Grape Seed Extract in pregnancy and breastfeeding

What NCCIH says about safety

Grape seed extract is generally well tolerated when taken orally or used topically. If you take any type of medicine, talk with your health care provider before using grape seed extract or other herbal products; some herbs and medicines interact in harmful ways. Little is known about whether it’s safe to use grape seed extract during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

Quoted in full from NCCIH so nothing is lost in summarising. Where they say “little is known”, that means the studies do not exist — not that the herb is known to be safe, and not that it is known to be harmful.

How much is actually known

There are some well-controlled studies of people using grape seed extract dietary supplements for certain health conditions, particularly high blood cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. Not much is known about grape seed extract’s effects on other conditions.

What the research has found

A 2020 review of 11 studies (536 participants) showed that grape seed extract may have desirable effects on levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides but not on total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. These conclusions should not be considered definite because the studies were small, and the composition of the products varied from study to study. A 2022 review of 19 studies (1,080 participants) showed that grape seed extract reduced diastolic blood pressure (the lower number in a blood pressure reading) but not systolic blood pressure (the higher number). Results of individual studies differed, and the differences may have been related to the dose and duration of grape seed extract supplementation and characteristics of the study participants. Studies in experimental models suggest that application of grape seed extract to the skin may promote wound healing, but only a very small amount of research has been done on this topic in people, and there isn’t enough evidence to conclude whether grape seed extract is helpful for this purpose. Although laboratory studies suggest that grape seed extract, used in a mouthrinse, might help to prevent tooth decay, there hasn’t been enough research in people to allow its effects to be evaluated.

Before you take this

Dose and form change the answer completely. A culinary amount of a spice, a cup of tea, and a concentrated supplement extract are three different things, and most research is done on the last of them.

Supplements are also not regulated like medicines, so strength and purity vary between products. Bring the actual bottle to your midwife, doctor or pharmacist — that conversation is worth more than any page, including this one.