Grape Diet
When you first think about the words “grape diet,” you might think that it means grapes are a healthy fruit with nutritional value if added to your diet. That line of thinking is substantiated by the fact that grapes have been found to contain powerful anti-oxidants called flavornoids, the primary two being quercetin and reservatrol. Anti-oxidants protect your body’s cells from damage from free radicals, unstable molecules that are produced naturally by your body, that can be the cause of tissue damage, aging, and some think, certain diseases. Free radicals are thought to become more numerous when you are exposed to such conditions as pollution, cigarette smoke, and toxic chemicals.
The counterbalance to these free radicals are anti-oxidants, other molecules that can prevent free radicals from damaging cells. Anti-oxidants are found naturally in some foods, mostly vegetables and fruits. Grapes are a good source of anti-oxidants and research is being done on the potential of quercetin and reservation in reducing the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.
So, a case can be made for the fact that adding grapes to one’s diet is a healthy thing to do. However, what about when the term “grape diet” is used and it means more than adding grapes to your diet--it means eating nothing at all besides grapes. Grapes have been around as long has civilization has existed and all kinds of home remedies have been credited to eating grapes. But the grape diet was first suggested by a South African dietician named Johanna Brandt in 1925.
Three years later Johanna Brandt wrote a book where she announced to the world that she had been cured of cancer by eating an all-grape diet. This book has been published several times since then with different titles. Next, Ms. Brandt proceeded to open a treatment center in New York City called the Harmony Healing Center, where people went to partake of the grape diet. The Center closed abruptly after much negative publicity and even lawsuits as there was no scientific evidence to substantiate the claims that the grape diet would cure diseases.
The grape diet starts with fasting and enemas for several days. Then it proceeds to eating nothing but grapes and drinking water for one to two weeks. The first foods that can be eaten after the all-grape stage are sour milk and other fresh fruits. Gradually raw vegetables are added--you can eat salads, dairy products, honey, nuts and olive oil. If at this point the grape diet appears to be working well, one meal of cooked food a day is added.
Research that has been done in the last decade has shown that the anti-oxidants such as resveratrol in grapes help to prevent damage from free radicals, which also aids in protecting the good, LDL cholesterol in our bodies. Studies have also shown that anti-oxidants can help reduce the risk of death from high blood pressure. These anti-oxidants are currently being studied to see if they have any effect in preventing different types of cancers.