A new study published in ACS Nutrition Science indicates that eating grapes regularly could help protect skin from sun damage by altering gene expression.
Researchers from Western New England University tracked volunteers who ate the equivalent of three daily servings of whole grapes for two weeks.
After the grape diet, skin samples showed significantly lower levels of malondialdehyde, a chemical that indicates cellular damage from UV exposure.
John Pezzuto, PhD, dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Western New England University, said: "We are now certain that grapes act as a superfood and mediate a nutrigenomic response in humans."
However, the study's sample size was very small-only four women with similar skin types participated-so the findings may not apply broadly.
Researchers emphasized that grape consumption cannot replace traditional sunscreen or sun-safe habits.