Anti Aging Health and Nutrition

Posts Tagged ‘red wine’

G. Calabrese of the Department of Human Nutrition at Universita Cattolica in Piacennza, Italy took a close look at the health benefits of moderate red wine consumption as it might impact menopause.

Leading up to this 1999 study, there was a great deal of literature surrounding the health benefits of resveratrol, a polyphenol naturally occurring in many foods and beverages. Its cancer preventative and heart disease preventative characteristics have made resveratrol the focus of many studies. However, Calabrese intended to determine if these health benefits would extend themselves beyond cancer and heart disease and might be an influence on menopause.

Calabrese’s Findings Surrounding Resveratrol

The hypothesis of this study is based on the idea that the structure of resveratrol is so much like that of diethylstilbestrol, a drug prescribed to prevent miscarriages, that it might act as a phytoestrogen in humans.

Calabrese’s team conducted a population study, read literature on resveratrol’s effects on female reproduction, osteoporosis, and cancer, and they conducted various trials of their own.

Conclusion

Their findings concluded that moderate wine consumption appeared to act as a phytoestrogen, a compound in plants that simulates estrogen in humans. Resveratrol boosted the physiological reactions that typically accompany estrogen increases. This activity could effectively moderate the effects and symptoms of menopause in women.

In a 1999 study from the College of Medicine in the Institute of Biochemistry at the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, researchers Jen-Hun Lin and Shu-Huei Tsai studied the cancer and heart disease prevention benefits of resveratrol, a red wine ingredient. Resveratrol may have therapeutic potential for acute coronary heart disease, cancer and other heart related health problems, such as clogged arteries.

Resveratrol’s strong antioxidant activities may have positive effects on many diseases and disorders like cancer, aging, vascular disease and various immune complex-mediated diseases. Experiments show that resveratrol has significant antioxidant activity on a molecular level as well as cancer chemopreventative abilities.

Moderate red wine drinking, thus the consumption of resveratrol, is thought to reduce the risk of heart disease by preventing blood platelets from clumping and causing a blood clot. There are many benefits to consuming resveratrol and the basic properties of this natural plant compound are anti-cancer, anti-heart disease, and anti-inflammatory. Resveratrol has been shown to suppress build up on artery walls, which can lead to clogged arteries. Resveratrol can be consumed in ways other than red wine drinking, such as resveratrol supplements in the form of tablets.