Green grapes otherwise known as white grapes are healthy sweet-sour berries with a white powdery protective coating on the surface. The skin ranges from yellow-green to bright green and is typically crisp firm, and smooth.
White grapes are popularly known to be tiny in size, and they often come round or slightly oval in shape. The shape they form into while growing depends on the variety.
Green grapes grow in tight or loose clusters of 15 to 300 and they are available year-round, with peak season in the summer. Not all green grapes are seedless, some are actually seeded with edible seeds.
White grapes can be enjoyed in their fresh or dry state. Fresh green grapes contain about 81% of water while the dry ones have about 20% which makes them perfect for your diet. Another way to gain from white grapes is through their products which include wine, currents, juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, wine, jam, vinegar, and grape seed oil.
Green grapes generally contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fibre including strong antioxidants that are needed to protect the body against unwanted diseases.
Health Benefits of Green Grapes
Diets rich in white grapes can help…
- lower cholesterol
- Prevent heart diseases
- Reduce cancer growth
- Strengthen bone health
- Improve liver function
- Promote good eyesight
- Ease constipation
- Lower high blood pressure
- Control diabetes
- Boost immune system
- Relieve stress
- Slow down ageing
- Support healthy skin
- Boost cognitive ability
- Promote better sleep
- Prevent stroke
- Facilitate weight loss
Side Effects of Green Grapes
Even though green grapes have a good number of health benefits, a few side effects may still occur when you eat too much in one sitting. Below are health problems that may occur when you eat more than 12 white grapes a day.
Allergy
Because green grapes allergy rarely occurs doesn’t write off its existence. White grapes contain lipid transfer protein, a protein that can induce different kinds of allergy. [1] Thus eating a small number of green grapes every day may help put any kind of allergy away.
Weight Gain
Eating too many white grapes at a go can override its health benefits as calories may build up easily to cause weight gain. It can even go further to increase blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. Therefore it is important to control your daily consumption of this fruit.
Note: canned white grapes contain twice the sugar in fresh ones. Stick to fresh white grapes for healthy nutrients.
Stomach or Abdominal Pain
Green grapes contain salicylic acid which irritates the stomach and causes damage to the stomach lining or digestive tract. It may subsequently cause nausea feeling, vomiting, stomach or abdominal pain.
Depending on the digestive system, undigested green grape seeds may trigger appendicitis and acute abdominal pain. Hence, it is healthier to chew seeds properly to avoid indigestion.
Note: endeavour to seek medical advice before eating green grapes if you are having a difficult bowel movement or irritable bowel syndrome.
Gas Problem
Gas may occur when foods high in fructose are consumed. Fructose is a type of natural sugar found in many foods including green grapes. The release of fructose from consumed green grapes happens in the process of digestion. During this process, a lot of fructose is passed out and the undigested ones are moved into the gut. The colon bacteria are then attracted to feed on these undigested sugars, thus causing gas release as well as bloating.
Diarrhea
Diarrhea occurs when your poop or stool becomes loose or watery consistently. This can be caused by overeating foods with high water and sugar content. Green grapes are rich in water and natural sugar, particularly in fructose. Hence the best way to stay safe is by eating fewer white grapes or any food high in water and sugar
The Nutritional Contents of White Grapes
100 g of fresh green grapes contains…
- Water —- 80.54 g
- Energy —- 69 kcal
- Protein —- 0.72 g
- Calcium —- 10 mg
- Iron —- 0.36 mg
- Magnesium —- 7 mg
- Phosphorus —- 20 mg
- Potassium —- 191 mg
- Vitamin C —- 3.2 mg
- Sodium —- 2 mg
- Zinc —- 0.07 mg
- Copper —- 0.127 mg
- Sugars —- 15.48 g
- Fiber —- 0.9 g
- Thiamin —- 0.069 mg
- Riboflavin —- 0.07 mg
- Niacin —- 0.188 mg
- Carbohydrate —- 18.1 g
- Lipid (fat) —- 0.16 g
- Ash —- 0.48 g
- Vitamin B-6 —- 0.086 mg
- Folate —- 2 µg
- Choline —- 5.6 mg
- Betaine —- 0.1 mg
- Manganese —- 0.071 mg
- Selenium —- 0.1 µg
- Fluoride —- 7.8 µg
- Vitamin A, RAE —- 3 µg
- Carotene —- 39 µg
- Vitamin E —- 0.19 mg
- Tocopherol —- 0.07 mg
- Fatty acids —- 0.054 g
- Lutein + zeaxanthin —- 72 µg
- Vitamin K (phylloquinone) —– 14.6 µg
Breakdown of more contents in white grapes
- Pantothenic acid —- 0.05 mg
- Sucrose —- 0.15 g
- Glucose (dextrose) —- 7.2 g
- Fructose —- 8.13 g
- Tryptophan —- 0.011 g
- Threonine —- 0.022 g
- Isoleucine —- 0.011 g
- Leucine —- 0.022 g
- Lysine —- 0.027 g
- Methionine —- 0.009 g
- Cystine —- 0.01 g
- Phenylalanine —- 0.019 g
- Tyrosine —- 0.01 g
- Valine —- 0.022 g
- Arginine —- 0.13 g
- Histidine —- 0.022 g
- Alanine —- 0.022 g
- Salicylic acid —- 0.04mg
- Aspartic acid —- 0.038 g
- Glutamic acid —- 0.081 g
- Glycine —- 0.016 g
- Proline —- 0.08 g
- Serine —- 0.022 g
Takeaway
White grapes are important in your daily diet, especially if you want to avoid certain diseases! But be cautious of the amount you consume as their small sizes may trick you into eating more than you should.
Aim at one serving a day if you are physically active but if otherwise, 12 grapes a day will be excellent. A serving of white grapes contains about 16 grapes.
Sources:https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/174683/nutrients
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