Health Secrets of Red Wine are Uncovered
“Although excessive consumption of ethanol in alcoholic beverages causes multi-organ damage, moderate consumption, particularly of red wine, is protective against all-cause mortality,” according to a study published online in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
New research is uncovering the disease-prevention secrets of a polyphenol called resveratrol, one of the compounds in red wine that seems to improve health. Although the benefits have been touted for years, researchers weren’t sure how polyphenols, and resveratrol in particular, worked in the body.
“The breadth of benefits is remarkable—cancer prevention, protection of the heart and brain from damage, reducing age-related diseases such as inflammation, reversing diabetes and obesity and many more,” said Lindsay Brown, an associate professor of the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland in Australia and co-author of the study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Brown said scientists are beginning to understand how resveratrol does its work. Possible mechanisms include: High doses of the compound may prevent cancer by increasing the process of apoptosis (programmed cell death). Low doses improve cardiac health by increasing cellular protection and reducing damage. Resveratrol may help remove very reactive oxidants in the body and improve blood supply to cells.
Scientists are also studying how the body absorbs resveratrol into the blood stream, since the compound is largely inactivated in the gut and liver.
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
“Although excessive consumption of ethanol in alcoholic beverages causes multi-organ damage, moderate consumption, particularly of red wine, is protective against all-cause mortality,” according to a study published online in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
New research is uncovering the disease-prevention secrets of a polyphenol called resveratrol, one of the compounds in red wine that seems to improve health. Although the benefits have been touted for years, researchers weren’t sure how polyphenols, and resveratrol in particular, worked in the body.
“The breadth of benefits is remarkable—cancer prevention, protection of the heart and brain from damage, reducing age-related diseases such as inflammation, reversing diabetes and obesity and many more,” said Lindsay Brown, an associate professor of the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland in Australia and co-author of the study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Brown said scientists are beginning to understand how resveratrol does its work. Possible mechanisms include: High doses of the compound may prevent cancer by increasing the process of apoptosis (programmed cell death). Low doses improve cardiac health by increasing cellular protection and reducing damage. Resveratrol may help remove very reactive oxidants in the body and improve blood supply to cells.
Scientists are also studying how the body absorbs resveratrol into the blood stream, since the compound is largely inactivated in the gut and liver.
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
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