While drinking too much alcohol leads to health problems in several organ systems, you have probably also heard about the benefits of using red wine to drink in moderation. Long-term studies confirm the benefits, but so far researchers have not been able to accurately explain how this can work.
“Reports on the benefits of red wine for almost two centuries,” said Lindsay Brown, an assistant professor at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland.
“The media developed the later history of the French paradox in the early 1990s. However, studies on the effects of resveratrol, one of the active non-alcoholic ingredients, were unusual until research in 1997 showed cancer prevention. connection ".
Not surprisingly, red wine combines a complex mixture of antioxidants and other compounds, one of which is a polyphenol, known as resveratrol, which manifests itself to have some amazing preventive aids to disease.
The health benefits of this substance are certainly impressive: everything from preventing cancer to protecting the brain and heart from damage and age-related diseases, reversing diabetes, reducing “bad” cholesterol, preventing blood clots, obesity, etc.
But, of course, the most fascinating tidbit is how the body gets beneficial compounds.
It appears that absorption of resveratrol through the mucous membranes in the mouth leads to about 100 times the blood levels of the compound, than drinking will pass through the digestive system and the liver.
These systems of the body inactivate this beneficial substance, so those ingested glasses do not deliver resveratrol to the bloodstream.
Acne, which is slow and whispered, works much better, allowing you to absorb this very useful compound.
Although it sounds complicated and confusing, experts have found that high doses of resveratrol increase the process called apoptosis (programmed cell death); while lower doses are believed to improve heart health by preventing cell damage.
Particularly explaining this level-dependent effect is that lower concentrations of the compound activate the mechanisms of cell survival, while high concentrations are included in the death signals in the same cells.
The compound can also help maintain health by removing very reactive oxidants in the body, while ensuring the delivery of blood to the cells.
"The simplest explanation is that resveratrol is transformed into a cell's own survival path, preventing damage to individual cells," explains study author Brown. "Other mechanisms help, including to remove very reactive oxidants in the body and improve the blood supply to the cells."
If red wine is not your thing, experts believe that after a few servings of blueberries (or red grapes, purple grape juice, peanuts, or some berries) in a day, you can get the same benefits.
You may also have heard about the health benefits of resveratrol and red wine in the news or in the last 60-minute reports, but be careful with statements about supplements using images from the report, or quote approval from medical expert Oprah Winfrey, Mehmel Oz, MD Dr. Oz has not approved any product.
