Raisins and additional walking have distinct effects on plasma lipids and inflammatory cytokines

Abstract

BackgroundRaisins are a significant source of dietary fiber and polyphenols, which may reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk by affecting lipoprotein metabolism and inflammation. Walking represents a low intensity exercise intervention that may also reduce CVD risk. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of consuming raisins, increasing steps walked, or a combination of these interventions on blood pressure, plasma lipids, glucose, insulin and inflammatory cytokines.ResultsThirty-four men and postmenopausal women were matched for weight and gender and randomly assigned to consume 1 cup raisins/d (RAISIN), increase the amount of steps walked/d (WALK) or a combination of both interventions (RAISINS + WALK). The subjects completed a 2 wk run-in period, followed by a 6 wk intervention. Systolic blood pressure was reduced for all subjects (P = 0.008). Plasma total cholesterol was decreased by 9.4% for all subjects (P < 0.005), which was explained by a 13.7% reduction in plasma LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) (P < 0.001). Plasma triglycerides (TG) concentrations were decreased by 19.5% for WALK (P < 0.05 for group effect). Plasma TNF-α was decreased from 3.5 ng/L to 2.1 ng/L for RAISIN (P < 0.025 for time and group × time effect). All subjects had a reduction in plasma sICAM-1 (P < 0.01).ConclusionThis research shows that simple lifestyle modifications such as adding raisins to the diet or increasing steps walked have distinct beneficial effects on CVD risk.

Raisins in human health: A review

“…Similar conclusions were reached by Puglisi and coworkers [16] who enrolled 34 men and postmenopausal women in a trial where raisins (1 cup/day) was compared to physical activity (increased number of steps walked) or a combination of two (see Table 1). In fact, there was a significant reduction by 2.2% of systolic pressure in all intervention groups, while diastolic pressure was unchanged.…”

“…Puglisi and co-workers [16] suggested an involvement of the antioxidant properties by raisin polyphenols and the positive modulation of antiinflammatory markers, such as cytokines and TNF-α. Following the protocol described before (see also Table 1), Authors showed a significant modification of some parameters, such as the plasma concentration of sICAM-1 in all intervention trials (raisins, walking or combination of two).…”

“…Puglisi et al in the trial cited above [16] observed a significant reduction of total cholesterol and LDLcholesterol in all groups after 6 weeks from the beginning of the study. As shown in Fig.…”

Beneficial effects of non-alcoholic grape-derived products on human health: A literature review

“…The most important positive effects reported were: 1) the reduction of systolic blood pressure (5 papers with positive association and one with no significant difference versus control) [9][10][11]; 2) the improvement of endothelial functions, assessed by measuring the flow-mediated-dilatation (FMD) of the brachial artery (11 in favour and 3 without significant results) [9,[12][13][14]. Encouraging results were observed on systolic blood pressure; in fact 5 papers out of 6 indicated a reduction of this parameter in both healthy and pre-hypertensive subjects after the consumption of one cup daily (for 42 days) of raisins or a snack containing raisins 3 times a day (for 84 days) [15,16].…”

Can raisins ameliorate the hypercholesterolaemia-induced cardiac affection?

“…HCD-fed rats were reported to have higher serum lipids levels [29,53], which was in accordance with our findings where HCD-raisins fed rats had a significant decrease in the levels of serum lipids. Puglisi et al [45] found that using one cup of raisins per day for 2 weeks in humans significantly decreased total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL. This hypolipidaemic effect of raisins might be due to polyphenols content interference with cholesterol absorption [60] and decrease of hepatic cholesterol concentrations as observed in guinea pigs [61] after diet supplementation with lyophilised grape powder.…”