Grape Seed Oil May Help Reduce Obesity.

• Position: WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

Muscadine grape seed oil supplies a form of vitamin E, giving scientists another clue to reducing obesity, a University of Florida, Gainesville, study shows. The oil may help mitigate the formation of new fat cells because it produces tocotrienol, an unsaturated form of vitamin E, points out Marty Marshall, professor of food science and human nutrition. "Thus, consuming foods made with muscadine grape seed oil could curtail weight gain by reducing obesity."

Muscadine grape seed oil would be a valuable addition to the market of edible oils because it is a unique source of tocotrienol in addition to being a good source of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. In addition, scientists anticipate that muscadine grape seed oils fortified with additional tocotrienol from underutilized muscadine varieties could be developed to help stem obesity.

Before this study, scientists attributed most tocotrienol benefits to red palm and rice bran oil. In fact, studies have shown that rice bran oil helps lower cholesterol. With the new findings, muscadine grape seed oil could be considered a superior source of tocotrienol, notes Marshall, a faculty member at the Institute of Food and...