Black Grapes and Green Grapes: Nutrition, Health Benefits & Difference

By Arushi Vats

If you’ve been to the neighborhood fruit market over the past few weeks, you couldn’t have missed the new addition to the stalls: grapes. Universally, grapes are considered healthy and beneficial. The popular understanding is that black grapes are healthier than green grapes. But it’s little known exactly why that is true.

Green grapes and black grapes have the same health benefits. (Image via Unsplash/ Gunter Hoffman)

Both green grapes and black grapes have the same health benefits. They both help prevent ageing, improve skin, and contain vast amounts of fibre which helps in your digestion and vitamins to help with immunity and strength. They also help stabilize blood sugar. All these qualities of grapes are because of one key element: resveratrol. And the only difference between green and black grapes is that grapes in darker shades have a much higher amount of resveratrol.

Black and red grapes have resveratrol

Red grapes. (Image via Unsplash /Mufid Majnun)

Resveratrol is known mostly for its direct effects on ageing. It has a positive anti-ageing impact that prevents the degradation of skin cells and facilitates life-extension. But it's secondary set of benefits in daily life are just as good. It helps control blood sugar by activating the SIRT 1 gene which increases insulin secretion in your body. The miraculous effect of grapes on the skin is not limited to just healthy, glowing skin. Resveratrol is also used effectively in treatments for gastrointestinal cancer and skin cancer.

Resveratrol has been found to suppress tumour development in the lungs and breasts as well in the prevention of pancreatic and prostate cancer. Not just that, it also lowers blood pressure by countering the hormones that constrict blood vessels with hormones that help increase blood flow in the vessels. Finally, it helps lower cholesterol in the body by increasing fat metabolism and by preventing platelets from aggregating.

So… black grapes are better?

Black grapes. (Image via Unsplash/ Maja Petric)

There are a lot of other benefits one can get from one nutrient. The darker the shade of grapes contains a high percentage of resveratrol than the green ones. So that means you should automatically stock up on black and red grapes and ignore the green grapes, right?

Wrong. Firstly, the idea is not to consume as much resveratrol as possible. If that was the plan, black grapes would still not be the healthiest option. No, the maximum concentration of resveratrol is in wine made from red and black grapes. Because of the process of fermentation, the quantity of resveratrol increases multifold in the wine made from the black grape. A rough estimate suggests wine contains eight times as much resveratrol as black grapes.

But red wine is also one of the leading sources of sugar and a high-calorie beverage in the world. And a cup full of grapes is roughly 69 calories compared to a half-glass of wine which is well over a 100. And did we mention that grapes have zero cholesterol?

So the point is not to stuff your body with as much resveratrol as possible. The only way to do that is through wine made from red and black grapes and that is not a very healthy or sustainable option (unless you plan on developing alcoholism).

Besides, there is something very important that we miss out on when we ignore green grapes in favour of dark grapes. While green grapes contain lower amounts of resveratrol as compared to black grapes, they also contain an element entirely missing in black grapes and that is catechins.

Green and white grapes have catechins!

Green grapes. (Image via Pexels/ Pixabay)

Catechins are one of the strongest anti-oxidants with anti-inflammation benefits. Catechins not only help clear the skin and give it a glow, they also rid the body of waste and prevent bacterial or fungal infections from taking root in the body. Their benefits are focussed on strong and healthy skin, internal cleansing and immunity of the body.

And they’re only found in green grapes. While white grapes are rare in India, they are also a strong storehouse of catechins and are low in calories.

So what does this mean? Which grape type is healthier?

Which grape type is healthier? (Image via Pexels/ Markus Winkler)

The truth is that all grapes are healthy and while black grapes contain far more resveratrol, light or green grapes contain catechins and you cannot substitute one for the other. The truth is that both grapes have their own set of benefits and are also good for the skin.

The household adage that black grapes are uniformly better is not true. For all-around nutritional benefits, it is suggested that a cup of black and green grapes mixed together is the best. It’s suggested that grapes be eaten at least 4-5 times a week to see the benefits. What is suggested is small but regular intakes over a period of time. 100 gm of grape is around 69 calories (with zero cholesterol!), so two cups will not affect your daily calorie intake at all.

Not to mention, black grapes are more prone to be sour and green grapes are sweeter. Mixing both black and green grapes together will not only get you all the benefits but will also ensure you stick to your daily intake!