SHARES
“Have you ever enjoyed your glass of red wine while saying ‘Hey, It’s good for my heart, no?’”
Earlier on, we observed that the French had low rates of heart disease despite high intake of fatty food. Therefore, we call this the “French Paradox”. Researchers who are looking at their diet did raise an eyebrow when looking at their level of red wine consumption.
Can red wine really protect us from heart disease? Read on to find out.
How is Red Wine Heart-Healthy?
Red wine contains antioxidants known as polyphenols. One of the polyphenols, resveratrol, may help protect your heart. For instance, it improves the blood flow by limiting the hardening of blood vessels (atherosclerosis). In this context, resveratrol improves the health of cells lining the blood vessel by promoting the production of nitric oxide (NO), which plays a vital role in relaxing the vessels. Also, it prevents the adhesion of inflammatory cells to the blood vessel wall, protecting them from injury. It also has health benefit similar to your blood thinner as it prevents the formation of blood clots within your blood vessels.
Resveratrol present in red wine also increases the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or good cholesterol. HDL removes low- density lipoprotein (LDL) or the bad cholesterol from the blood and thus prevent plaque formation.
Obesity is a major risk factor in cardiovascular diseases. Resveratrol can reduce obesity by preventing immature fat cells from maturing, and activate sirtuin 1, a protein that protects the heart against inflammation.
Overall, resveratrol acts directly (through cells lining the vessels) and indirectly (thru fat tissue) to prevent heart diseases.
Photo by shuk yin chuk from Flickr
Resveratrol in other foods
Resveratrol comes from the skin of grapes, a key ingredient for making wine. As compared to white wine, red wine contains more resveratrol as the fermentation in red wine with grape skin is longer than in white wine. With that being said, you can simply get your source of resveratrol by eating grapes without consuming alcohol.
Other food sources that contain resveratrol include peanut, cranberries, and blueberries. However, the amount of resveratrol in food and wine varies greatly, so it’s not sure how beneficial eating of food containing resveratrol might be compared with drinking red wine.
Drink in moderation
Despite studies and research showing cardioprotection of red wines, there are still not sufficient studies to encourage people to start drinking just to prevent heart diseases. Alcohol is addictive and can cause other serious issues if consumed excessively such as pancreas and liver diseases, hypertension, stroke, obesity, alcohol abuse and suicide.
Avoid drinking if you are pregnant, have a family history of liver or pancreas disease, and alcoholism.
If you enjoy red wine, be sure to limit the amount. Moderate consumption of alcohol is about 1-2 drinks per day. One standard drink is roughly 1.5oz (44ml) of liquor, 5oz (148ml) of wine, 12 oz (355ml) of beer.
Photo by Ирин@ from Flickr
Conclusion
For wine lovers, there is an additional reason to continue loving your wine (remember, in moderation). However, overall, there is insufficient evidence to encourage non- drinkers to start consuming wine as a prevention against heart disease. There are other well-proven factors that will lower the risk of heart diseases e.g. diet, exercise, lifestyle, that does not have wine’s undesirable effects.
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References
- Paul E. Red wine and your heart [Internet]. American Heart Association, Inc. 2020[ Available from https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.CIR.0000151608.29217.62; last accessed on 2020 Jan 11]
- Red wine and resveratrol: Good for your heart? [Internet]. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). 2019 [Available from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/red-wine/art-20048281; last updated on 2019 Oct 22; last accessed on 2020 Jan 11]
by Chang Xian
View all articles by Chang Xian.
