A healthy diet is your first defense against getting sick or developing serious health conditions, and the ability to use supplements makes it easier than ever before to get enough nutrients to fuel your body’s immune system. Vitamin C and grape seed extract are highly regarded within the natural health community, and it doesn’t take long to see why. Both of these sources of antioxidants are helpful for maintaining a healthy body, but it is common to wonder which of the two is better. Taking a look at the origins and benefits can help you plan how to include them in your healthy living plan.

What Are Antioxidants?

Antioxidants help the body’s cells fight free radicals in the body. Antioxidants can be found naturally in certain foods, or they can be man-made. Science has also made it possible to extract certain components from food to create supplements high in natural antioxidants, which is ideal for people who may not eat enough fruits and vegetables to meet their dietary needs. Certain antioxidants also work best in high amounts that the average person can’t get in their regular diet. Grape seed supplements have the additional benefit of giving you access to essential flavonoids and phenolic acids that you wouldn’t otherwise receive since most people prefer not to eat the hard and bitter pits that exist in the juicy fruit.

What Is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C has existed in food since the beginning of time. Still, it wasn’t until fairly recently that it was discovered as an essential nutrient that can be isolated from other vitamins. In 1912, a biophysicist named Casimir Funk formulated a theory that vitamins existed when he began to study why people who consumed certain foods were less likely to develop nutritional deficiencies compared to those who had different diets. During his research regarding scurvy, he found that vitamin C had a protective effect.

Today, it is well-known that vitamin C is essential for a well-functioning immune system. People also need vitamin C to protect the body from free radicals that develop in the body from exposure to toxins in the environment, such as air pollution. Consuming a diet that is high in vitamin C is helpful for preventing multiple health conditions that include heart disease and cancer. Oranges are well-known for being high in vitamin C, but you can also find them in other sources that are less acidic. For instance, bell peppers and broccoli are vegetable options that you can include in your diet.

How Is Grape Seed Extract Made?

Natural herbal supplements are typically made using extracts of certain foods that increase the potency of the vitamins and nutrients they provide. This extract is made using a relatively straightforward method that is based on the best practices for keeping nature’s most potent nutrients intact. To make this supplement, grape seeds are removed from the fruit and then ground down into a powder form. Once the powder is made, it can then be mixed with other ingredients. For instance, adding red wine and pine bark extracts to the powder increases the potency and makes it possible to achieve an even higher amount of nutrition in the supplement.

As a final step, the powder is then placed into a convenient capsule form that you can use as a supplement to your diet. Most natural herbal supplements only require being taken once or twice daily with water or a meal. When looking for a heart health supplement, you’ll want to look for ones that contain natural extracts with little to no extra additives. This ensures that you don’t undo the benefits of using the extract by adding chemicals to your body that influence the production of free radicals. Sticking to a pure extract allows your body to utilize the antioxidants for their greatest good.

What Are the Benefits of Grape Seeds?

Considering that grape seeds aren’t particularly palatable, it is interesting to discover that they are filled with powerful antioxidants. They contain anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and oligomeric proanthocyanidin complexes. Grape seeds are also recognized as one of the most potent sources of proanthocyanidins, which are polyphenols found in many plants. While the word makes it seem complicated, these are easily recognized as the compounds that give grapes and other fruits their color. These polyphenols have been shown to provide a range of benefits for your body that include the following:

• may help to reduce blood pressure
• could prevent oxidative damage that leads to heart disease
• promotes collagen synthesis and bone formation
• contains anti-inflammatory properties
• provides antibacterial and antifungal properties

Past research has shown that the antioxidants in grapes are great for promoting good cardiovascular functioning by helping to open up the capillaries and larger blood vessels in your heart and throughout the body. Improving blood flow helps to prevent heart disease and related conditions such as strokes. While you may already be familiar with how grapes and products such as red wine help promote a robust cardiovascular system, people are often surprised to discover that grape seeds are also beneficial for maintaining healthy joints.

Grape seed extracts are known for being the best joint supplement because they impact the functioning of this part of your body in two important ways. First, grape seeds contain flavonoids that can help your body to produce the appropriate levels of collagen that helps to cushion your joints and promote good flexibility. Second, grape seeds also help your body build stronger bones, reducing the chances of you experiencing breaks and fractures that can lead to arthritis down the road.

Which Is More Potent: Fruit or Grape Seed Supplements?
Now that you know more about vitamin C and grape seeds, the next question is which is better? The answer entirely depends upon what goals you are trying to achieve for your health and how you use each. In one study, both vitamin C and extracts from grape seeds had protective effects against oxidative stress on people undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery. However, grape seeds did demonstrate greater abilities to lower specific oxidative stress biomarkers, indicating that they may have had a more potent effect.

In another study, the differences between grape seeds and other forms of fruit were observed to determine which provided more antioxidants. Researchers found that grape seeds provided the highest amount of antioxidants, but the difference began to level out when people consumed more fruit. The type of fruit also makes a difference. For instance, mangoes contained levels of antioxidants that came close to the amount in grape seeds.

Is There a Place for Both In A Healthy Living Plan?
Your body needs all of the antioxidants that it can get, and it’s incredibly difficult to get too many. Adding more fruit to your diet can help you to boost your vitamin C consumption, and supplements are an excellent choice for achieving the same goal. Grape seeds provide additional protection against free radicals you might not receive by simply eating a mango or banana. Grape seeds also work well as a joint health supplement that promotes several key processes in your body that aid in helping you to maintain good freedom of movement. While the two are different, you can easily use both in a healthy diet.

Farlong Nutraceutical always recommends filling your plate with as many fresh fruits and vegetables as you can. Our grape seed supplement puts the best that nature has to offer in a tiny capsule with potent capabilities for helping your body fight off oxidative stress so that you can live your healthiest life.