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"To Your Health" - The Health Benefits of Red Wine
It is so wonderful that something as delightful to consume as red
wine or
organic dark chocolate, for that matter, also has special health benefits. Red wine
seems to have abundant health benefits. There are substances in red wine that are
thought to help the
heart by lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure, fight cancer, stop colds and slow
down the aging process. Moderate consumption of red wine can reduce the risk of
heart attacks by 50 percent and cut the chances of strokes by 20 percent
according to some studies.
Special Properties of Red Wine. How does red wine do this? Red wine’s
healing properties come from the antioxidants or
flavanoids it contains and from a biochemical called
resveratrol, a polyphenol.
Antioxidants fight cancer formation and
help prevent cell damage. And resveratrol is considered
a cardioprotective agent, helping to prevent heart disease and strokes. Fascinatingly, resveratrol is
produced naturally
by grape skins in response to fungal infection... This is exactly what happens
when the grapes are fermented - they are exposed to yeast which is a
fungus. This explains why white wine has less of these healing properties - red
wine is fermented with grape skins and white wine is not.
Additionally, red wine that is aged in oak barrels
contain another cancer fighting chemical, acutissimin: Scientists who have
analyzed samples of red wine aged for 18 months in oak barrels, found
two types of acutissimin compounds, A and B. These are anti-tumor chemicals
absorbed from the oak barrels into the red wine.
Can red wine help you lose weight? Perhaps
not, but it does give your body the benefits of someone who weighs
less. Mice fed a high fat diet plus resveratrol, lived longer than control
mice fed only the high fat diet. While exactly why this occurred is
unknown, the best guess is that the resveratrol
stimulates particular genes known as SIRT genes. These genes cause your body to react
as if you were on a diet - it mimics the healthy aging
benefits of caloric restriction.
And this leads to the possibility that red wine is
actually an "Elixir of Life." More studies are revealing that wine has
the potential to increase longevity. Resveratrol turns
on the evolutionarily-honed biological survival mechanism:
It switches the body's resources from fertility to tissue maintenance. The
improved tissue maintenance, by creating healthier cells, may extend one's lifespan
by cutting down on the degenerative diseases of aging. This survival reflex
can be induced by a famine-like diet, known as caloric restriction, which
extends the life of laboratory mice by up to 30%. I like the idea of drinking
wine a lot better than being faced with starvation...
Red wine and Cholesterol. Scientists believe one
key to the healthful benefits of red wine lie in the antioxidants, or
flavonoid, it contains. Flavonoids help to reduce the production of LDL, low density
lipoprotein - sometimes referred to as "bad" cholesterol - the kind that clogs
arteries. They also have the effect of increasing HDL, high density
lipoprotein, which combines with cholesterol to remove it from the blood
system, thus becoming so-called "good" cholesterol. These effects help to
prevent blood clots, potential strokes and improve the lipid profile overall.
Red Wine and Catching a Cold. Some studies have
shown that people who drink two glasses of red wine a day have fewer colds every
year on average. This indicates that the wine has provided an increased resistance to viral
infection. While the reason for this is uncertain, it is possible that the flavanoids found in
red wine are the reason for the reduced number of colds. Other research has shown that
flavonoids can combat rhinoviruses, a major cause of colds.
How Much Wine is
Enough? A four-ounce glass or 2, appears to be enough to decrease the risk
of heart disease, cancer and stroke. Such a daily serving of red wine which
contains resveratrol, antioxidants and other unique chemicals may
improve your circulation, fight cancer, reduce inflammation, lower
your risk of heart disease and strokes, increase your immunity to some
viruses, and prolong the lifespan of body cells.
Red wine should
be drunk in moderation. The adverse effects of too much alcohol consumption will
quickly negate the positive effects of a couple of glasses of wine. So as the
toast goes, "To Your Health" and to "Red Wine, a Delightful
Medicine..."
About the Author
Scott Harker is the publisher of several websites including:
Sherlock Holmes Pastiches,
Best Yoga For Life,
Naming The Baby,
Dieting Help | Move More - Eat Less, and
On The Hook | Fishing Supplies.
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