If you're interested in the potential benefits of grapefruit seed extract, consider this caveat: a lack of human studies makes it impossible to conclusively confirm the effectiveness of this product in the treatment of human illness. This is not to say that grapefruit seed extract lacks promise. Laboratory and animal studies are offering a glimpse into the potential future of grapefruit seed extract, or GSE, as an aid in the treatment of a number of disorders. Consult your doctor before taking grapefruit seed extract.
Lyme Disease
Lyme disease infections can be persistent and reccurrent, according to O. Brorson of the Department of Microbiology at College University in Fredrikstad, Norway, causing long-term tissue infections that are difficult to cure. Brorson examined the effects of GSE on Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease when passed on to humans via a tick bite. Brorson's study, published in the 2007 edition of the journal "Infection," found GSE to be an effective agent against the bacteria.
Skin Disease
Grapefruit seed extract has the potential to be a helpful additive to skin and hair care products, as well as medical treatments for certain skin diseases, according to Yu-Mi Ha of the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation at Silla University. Ha studied the effects of GSE on human skin pathogens and found it has effective antibacterial properties that make it well suited as a potential aid to skin care.
Gastric Ulcers
A study conducted by researchers in Poland and the Ukraine and published in the "Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology" in 2005 showed that minute doses of GSE decreased gastric ulcers in laboratory animals by stimulating nerves to release substances that stimulate the blood supply to the stomach. Researcher O.S. Zayachkivska of the Department of Physiology at Jageillonian University Medical College in Poland states that human studies are needed to confirm the gastroprotective effects of GSE, but that the dosages used in their study produced no adverse side effects.
Concerns
Some GSE products may contain no actual grapefruit seed extract, according to Helena Brandin of the Medical Products Agency in Uppsala, Sweden. Brandin analyzed three GSE products using magnetic resonance spectroscopy and found no actual GSE in any of them. Brandin's work was published in the "European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology" in 2007.
Though proponents of GSE tout its antimicrobial properties, some researchers believe the effects of GSE may be due to preservatives in the extract, rather than the extract itself. As Todd Caldecott states in the 2005 edition of "Medical Herbalism," benzethonium chloride, a preservative found in some GSE brands, may actually be responsible for the germ-killing effects of the extract. Caldecott adds that this preservative is classified as a class 2 poison and is not approved for internal use in the U.S.
References
- SpringerLink: Grapefruit Seed Extract is a Powerful in vitro Agent Against Motile and Cystic Forms of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato
- Korea Science: Anti-microbial Activity of Grapefruit Seed Extract and Processed Sulfur Solution against Human Skin Pathogen
- "Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology"; Gastroprotective Effects of Flavonoids in Plant Extracts; O.S. Zayachkivska; 2005
- SpringerLink: Adverse Effects by Artificial Grapefruit Seed Extract Products in Patients on Warfarin Therapy
- "Medical Herbalism"; Grapefruit Seed Extract; Todd Caldecott; 2005
- PubMed.gov: The Effectiveness of Processed Grapefruit-Seed Extract as an Antibacterial Agent: I. An in Vitro Agar Assay
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