Fruits are among the best foods that you can incorporate into your weight-loss diet. Grapes are no exception and are actually recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help you manage or lose weight. Still, before you go to the grocery store and stock up on grapes, you should understand how they fit into your weight-loss diet and how they can help you lose weight.
Grapes for Weight Loss
Although grapes are recommend for a weight-loss diet, you will not lose weight simply by eating grapes. Foods do not actually "burn" calories. Weight loss occurs by burning more calories than you consume on a daily basis. Grapes will help you lose weight if you substitute them for other foods that are higher in calories. One cup of grapes is about 106 calories. If you eat a cup of frozen grapes for dessert instead of a bowl of ice cream that is 400 calories, you have just eliminated almost 300 calories from your diet. To lose weight, you should aim for a 500 to 1000 calorie reduction each day.
Use Moderation
Jonny Bowden, PhD and clinical nutrition specialist, agrees that grapes can be a good addition to your weight-loss diet, but he suggests that you only consume grapes in moderation. Many dieters are concerned about the amount of sugar in grapes. Grapes score a 46, plus or minus 3, on the glycemic index and are on the upper-end of the low glycemic foods. In moderate quantities -- 1 cup or less -- grapes will not significantly affect your blood sugar. Eating several cups of grapes, however, can cause your blood sugar to rise. Measure the amount of grapes that you want to eat rather than eating them in unknown quantities off the stem.
Resveratrol
Resveratrol is a compound in the skin of grapes that is often credited for the health benefits in red wine. Bowden reports that a high resveratrol intake is thought to lower your risk of heart disease and cancer. Resveratrol acts as a powerful antioxidant to destroy free radicals and as an "antimutagen" that prevents healthy cells from changing into cancerous cells. Bowden claims that resveratrol may be "the best antiaging substance that you can take." A 2006 study published in the "International Weekly Journal of Science," found that the lifespan of mice "dramatically" increased from just taking very small amounts of resveratrol.
Buy Organic
Bowden suggests that you buy organic grapes if at all possible. His recommendation comes after the Environmental Working Group, a consumer protection research organization, placed grapes among the 12 foods most likely to be contaminated with pesticides in 2003. Organic foods carry significant less risk of being contaminated with pesticides, herbicides and other toxic chemicals. Make sure that you still wash your grapes. For further safety, Bowden suggests using a strong fruit and vegetable food wash and warm water.
References
- "The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth"; Jonny Bowden; 2007
- Harvard Medical School: Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load for 100+ Foods
- CDC: How To Use Fruits And Vegetables To Help Manage Your Weight
- Health Services at Columbia University; Foods With Negative Calories?; July 2009
- University of Illinois: Dieting That Works
- "Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science"; Resveratrol Improves Health and Survival of Mice on a High-calorie Diet; Joseph A. Baur, et al.; November 2006
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