Red Wine & Resveratrol
Of all the supposed superfoods, red wine is one of the best. Many people choose to get their grape extracts in pill form, but another method to get them is to drink a moderate amount of red wine. Red wine contains a whole group of polyphenols, that work together to improve health. They may even inhibit the growth and spread of breast cancer! Scientists have found that grape polyphenols consumed at normal levels (for a wine drinker) provide greater healing benefits than compounds ingested in isolated, capsule form.
Current studies show that these polyphenols can kill cancer cells, and that they are more effective than catechins, quercetin, or even resveratrol. They inhibit cell growth and migration in those cells that are most likely to metastasize. When studied in mice, grape polyphenols shrunk tumors and inhibited the spread of cancer.
Polyphenols are the compounds that give certain plants their medicinal properties. They also provide color and antioxidant power. Red and purple grapes have high polyphenol levels, as evidenced by their deep color. White grapes have much lower polyphenol content. 200+ polyphenols have been found in red wine, such as catechin, quercetin, and resveratrol. Polyphenols protect plants against radiation from the sun, and bacterial and fungal infection, so there’s no surprise that they help us too!
Sure, polyphenols in capsule form have their place, but those from natural sources are much better. Extracts can easily oxidize and lose potency, so eat a lot of veggies, fruit, and drink a moderate amount of red wine to bolster your body’s cells. From the days of Plato and Hippocrates, red wine has been promoted as a diuretic, pain reliever, and tranquilizer. Even Julius Caesar had his soldiers drink wine to prevent stomach upset and bleeding. The polyphenol content in red wine inhibits fat buildup in the liver, which is associated with alcohol drinking. Resveratrol can help in this area as well.
Researchers from the USF College of Medicine in Florida found that resveratrol reduces the amount of fat produced by the livers of mice who were given alcohol, and it also increased the metabolism of fat. Alcohol and resveratrol worked together to make an even greater impact. The scientists took six groups of mice. They fed each group a liquid diet. Half of the mice got no ethanol, and the other half were given progressively higher doses to simulate alcoholism. Four out of six groups got resveratrol. After a month, the mice were tested. The mice that got alcohol without resveratrol had three times the amount of fat as the other mice. The mice who got ethanol & resveratrol had a greater concentration of sirtuin, a chemical that helps prevent cell damage. This information comes from an edition of the American Journal of Physiology, Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.
Resveratrol’s ability to decrease the growth of fat cells gives it credence as a weight-loss aid. Other experiments show that resveratrol prevents fat cells from reaching maturity, and inhibits fat storage. It also lowers production of substances linked to the onset of obesity-related illnesses like diabetes and atherosclerosis. Resveratrol heightens production of adiponectin, which is known to lower the risk of a heart attack. Red wine is a big part of the Mediterranean style of eating. This type of diet can reduce the incidence of premature death from a multitude of causes. After all, the French eat a lot of fatty foods, don’t exercise a lot, and smoke a lot more than most Americans do….and they have a lot lower death rate from heart disease. One reason for this may be their frequent drinking of red wine.
Chronic drinking increases neurological changes, but polyphenols like those found in red wine have strong antioxidant properties. Experiments on rats, fed either ethanol or red wine, proved that brain deterioration was lower in those rats who got the red wine. Those rats were able to complete tasks faster and more efficiently than the rats who only got ethanol. This led scientists to believe that red wine consumption doesn’t lead to mental decline, and in fact it may inhibit it.
There may be other benefits to red wine that science hasn’t discovered yet, and new breakthroughs, especially in the resveratrol supplement department, are guaranteed to be around the corner!
Most Frequently Asked Resveratrol Question:
In the past, we've done our best to keep resveratrol products off of this site, but we kept receiving the same emails every day, asking us which resv supplement we recommended.
In light of the massive interest, we felt the need to pull some strings and get with one of the top product suppliers. Thankfully, we found one that was nice enough to offer our visitors a risk-free sample of their high-quality resveratrol product. Supplies are quite limited, and considering how popular resveratrol currently is, they will go fast!
