We investigated the effect of chronic grape seed extract (GSE) on blood pressure and aortic stiffness (AoS) among overweight and obese males. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (Q), total vascular conductance (TVC), and AoS were measured during two submaximal cycling exercises (40% and 60% VO_2max), after 7 consecutive days of GSE or placebo (PL) ingestion with one week washout period. Compared with PL, GSE supplementation significantly decreased MAP at rest (85 ± 3 mmHg vs. 82 ± 3 mmHg), 40% (102 ± 3 mmHg vs. 99 ± 3 mmHg), and 60% workloads (109 ± 3 mmHg vs. 107 ± 3 mmHg) (P = 0.001, ES = 0.2). AoS was significantly reduced (13.0 ± 1.9 AU vs. 10.2 ± 1.0 AU) at rest (P = 0.002, ES = 0.6). Q was decreased at rest and across all workloads, but there were no significant differences (7.5 ± 0.4 L/min vs. 7.1 ± 0.4 L/min; 20.4 ± 1.2 L/min vs. 19.6 ± 0.9 L/min; 26.3 ± 1.1 L/min vs. 25.5 ± 1.6 L/min, respectively). GSE had no effect on HR, TVC, and SV. Our study indicates that chronic supplementation with GSE reduces arterial pressure at rest and during exercise primarily via the substantial reduction in AoS. Thus, GSE can be a dietary supplement to treat augmented blood pressure responses in obese and overweight males at rest and during exercise.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04465110.

Background: The effects of aerobic physical activity (PA) and muscular strengthening activity (MSA) on all-cause mortality risk need further exploration among ethnically diverse populations. Purpose: To examine potential effect modification of race-ethnicity on meeting the PA guidelines and on all-cause mortality. Methods: The study sample (N = 14,384) included adults (20–79 y of age) from the 1999–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. PA was categorized into 6 categories based on the 2018 PA guidelines: category 1 (inactive), category 2 (insufficient PA and no MSA), category 3 (active and no MSA), category 4 (no PA and sufficient MSA), category 5 (insufficient PA and sufficient MSA), and category 6 (meeting both recommendations). Race-ethnic groups examined included non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Mexican American. Cox-proportional hazard models were used. Results: Significant risk reductions were found for categories 2, 3, and 6 for non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black. Among Mexican American, significant risk reductions were found in category 6. Conclusion: In support of the 2018 PA guidelines, meeting both the aerobic PA and MSA guidelines significantly reduced risk for all-cause mortality independent of race-ethnicity. The effects of aerobic PA alone seem to be isolated to non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black.