Resveratrol and Wine - “French Paradox”?
Resveratrol has been touted as a miracle antioxidant and claimed to prevent cancer, delay the effects of aging, stimulate fat loss, improve athletic performance, and inhibit estrogen in men. It is found in red wine, grape skins, peanuts, and blueberries.
Resveratrol belongs to a class of polyphenolic compounds called stilbenes. Certain types of plants produce stilbenes in response to stress, injury, fungal infection, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Scientists first became interested in the health benefits of resveratrol in 1992 when it was discovered to be in red wine.
In the test tube, resveratrol neutralizes free radicals and other oxidants and inhibits low density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation. However, there is little evidence that shows resveratrol to be beneficial in humans. After oral consumption of resveratrol, the amount of resveratrol in the blood stream is likely to be much lower than that of other antioxidants, such as vitamin C and E.
A reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease has been associated with moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages. The “French Paradox” – the observation that mortality from coronary heart disease is relatively low in France despite relatively high levels of dietary saturated fat and cigarette smoking – led to the though that regular consumption of red wine might provide some protection from cardiovascular disease. Red wine contains resveratrol and even higher levels of flavonoids.
When added to cells outside the body, resveratrol has been found to inhibit the production of several human cancer cell lines, including those from breast, prostate, stomach, colon, pancreatic and thyroid cancers. In animals, resveratrol inhibited the development of esophageal, intestinal, and mammary (breast) cancer induced by chemical carcinogens.
Unfortunately, studies on human metabolism of resveratrol suggest that even very high dietary intakes of resveratrol may not result in levels that are high enough to achieve most of the protective effects found in cell culture studies.
Other studies suggest that the alcohol in wine is heart healthy and provides the benefits. Some benefits of alcohol include:
- Raises high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol – the good cholesterol
- Lowers blood pressure
- Inhibits the formation of blood clots
- Helps prevent artery damage caused by high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol – the bad cholesterol
However, one large Danish study has shown that red wine has more heart benefits than other types of alcohol. This study revealed that red wine drinkers had about half the risk of dying of heart disease than nondrinkers.
Research in mice has suggested that resveratrol may help protect against obesity and diabetes.
The American Heart Association doesn’t recommend that you start drinking alcohol just to prevent heart disease.
It seems like the answers on resveratrol are unclear; however, it does appear to be a good antioxidant. Whether or not resveratrol supplementation provides enough to make a difference remains to be seen. As for the “French Paradox”, my bet is that the resveratrol combined with the flavonoids provides the benefits. Even still, I agree with the American Heart Association and wouldn’t recommend that people start drinking wine for its health benefits. Maintain an active, healthy lifestyle and you shouldn’t need to drink wine to save your heart.
References: Linus Pauling Institute, Mayo Clinic
Sphere It1,618 views
Related posts:
- Resveratrol May Protect The Heart And Slow Aging
- Resveratrol Shown To Kill Cancer Cells
- Alcohol Affects Risk of Cancer In Postmenopausal Women
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically each day to your feed reader.
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
[...] Health MOZ wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
[...] lower the risk of heart failure, Canadian researchers say. The scientists at the Petgoogle-sina.comResveratrol and Wine - ???French Paradox???? Resveratrol has been touted as a miracle antioxidant and claimed to prevent cancer, delay the [...]
[...] have posted before about the positive effects of resveratrol; however, this study provides more solid evidence about [...]
[...] have posted before about the health benefits of resveratrol and how it may be a cancer fighter, but this study provides more evidence to its health benefits. [...]
Comments
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Resveratrol can help you to lead a long and healthy life so says Dr. Oz.
Resveratrol Supplements can help you control your weight naturally
by increasing energy, reducing cravings, and limiting your appetite.
According to Wikipedia, Consumer Lab, an independent dietary
supplement and over the counter products evaluation organization,
published a report on 13 November 2007 on the popular resveratrol
supplements. The organization reported that there exists a wide range
in quality, dose, and price among the 13 resveratrol products
evaluated. The actual amount of resveratrol contained in the
different brands range from 2.2mg for Revatrol, which claimed to have
400mg of “Red Wine Grape Complex”, to 500mg for Biotivia.com Transmax,
which is consistent with the amount claimed on the product’s label.
Prices per 100mg of resveratrol ranged from less than $.30 for
products made by Biotivia.com, jarrow, and country life, to a high of
$45.27 for the Revatrol brand. None of the products tested were found
to have significant levels of heavy metals or other contaminants.
I’m wondering if red wine with my whole wheat cereal (instead of milk) would be a beneficial combination. Hopefully at my breakfast time, it’s 5 O’clock somewhere…
Periapex’s last blog post..Is EntreCard a Metaphor For Sex?
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend wine with cereal, but wouldn’t discount it completely for breakfast… You are right, it’s always 5 O’clock somewhere.
Man, I wonder what that would taste like (wine in your cereal)? Yikes!
If you want to get the highest form of resveratrol in a natural food form, look into Muscadine grape seeds and skins. They have the highest levels of resveratrol of any of the fruits/veggies that have been tested. If you don’t want to swallow the seeds whole, you can always take a nutritional supplement, such as NutraGrape: http://www.nutragrape.com
Taking two pills with your meal each day is much easier to do. Of course, drinking the wine would be fun, but you’d have to drink way more wine than is physically possible to get the benefit of the resveratrol! Just know that a nutritional supplement can’t make any claims to cure diseases or improve health conditions because it is not a drug.