Polyphenols in Red Wine Protect Heart and Brain

Polyphenols in Red Wine Protect Heart and Brain

Do you love to eat cheese, butter, eggs, and rich cream sauces?
Do you think you can indulge in such a heavily saturated fat diet
and not suffer the consequences?
Maybe you can, if you do as the French do.

Despite the heavy consumption of cheese, butter, eggs, rich creamy sauces, and the highest per capita consumption of wine in the world, the French people appear to be surprisingly healthy, without heart disease. Although their diet contains approximately fifteen percent more saturated fat than an American diet, and even though they exercise less than Americans, the rate of heart disease for the French people is 60 percent lower than that of Americans.1 These puzzling figures form the basis for what has been referred to as the French Paradox, and France's passion for fine wine has explained this mystery. Studies have shown that the moderate consumption of red wine is linked to a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease.2 But wine consumption is not the total panacea. There are serious consequences to overuse ranging from liver disease to addiction.

WHY RED WINE PROMOTES CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH

Red wine contains a broad range of polyphenols that are present in the skin and seeds of the grapes, including resveratrol, and the flavonoids(all flavonoids are polyphenols) quercetin and catechin. Resveratrol and quercetin are the two primary compounds present in red wine that are thought to help protect against coronary heart disease.3 They are both potent antioxidants that act as free radical scavengers once they enter the body, and, when taken together, they have a synergistic effect. Quercetin is known to reduce atherosclerotic plaque buildup by helping reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and platelet aggregation.4 Oxidation is a destructive process rendering the body more susceptible to dysfunction and disease. Resveratrol also decreases the stickiness of blood platelets, and helps blood vessels to remain open and flexible.5 Like quercetin, it inhibits the oxidation of LDL cholesterol,6 and, in addition, reduces the damage that LDL can do to the lining of blood vessels.

RESVERATROL'S ANTICANCER AND ANTIVIRAL BENEFITS

Researchers have demonstrated that resveratrol has a broad range of health benefits. It has been shown to not only promote better cardiovascular health, but also to have anticancer9 and antiviral effects.10 Resveratrol has been shown to inhibit an enzyme needed for DNA synthesis involved in the proliferation of cancer cells.11-12

In another study, resveratrol was found to inhibit the replication of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in a dose-dependent, reversible manner (you don't get the benefit after you stop taking it), to inhibit the reactivation of viruses from infected neurons, and to limit viral growth.10

ASTOUNDING NEUROPROTECTIVE BENEFITS

In addition, there is evidence that moderate red wine consumption may also have benefits which protect neurons or other brain cells against cerebral ischemia, macular degeneration,13 Alzheimer's disease,14 and possibly Parkinson's disease.15 Quercetin and resveratrol have also been shown to have protective effects in neurotoxicity.16 Now, a recent study done at McGill University provides new evidence that moderate wine consumption may protect against certain neurological disorders, especially age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as memory loss and dementia.17

Because oxidative stress is an age-related process implicated in various neurodegenerative disorders, the team at McGill University investigated the possible neuroprotective effects of the red wine constituents quercetin, resveratrol, and catechin on cell death induced by a nitric oxide analog and other toxic compounds. The experiments were performed in cultured cells of the hippocampus, an area of the brain that has been found to be severely affected by Alzheimer's disease and ischemia (poor blood flow) because it is particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress.

The results clearly indicated that quercetin and resveratrol are able to protect and even inhibit the damaging effects produced by oxidative stress on hippocampal neurons that were exposed to nitric oxide-related toxicity.17 This inhibitory process may be relevant to neurodegenerative events occurring during cerebral ischemia (poor blood flow to the brain such as a stroke), and other neurodegenerative disorders. It is reasonable to suspect that resveratrol and quercetin may have additional neuroprotective benefits that haven't even been explored yet.

WHAT ABOUT THE ALCOHOL IN WINE?

While a few studies have shown that moderate amounts of ethanol (grain alcohol, the drinkable kind, such as that found in wine, beer, and other spirits) may have some health benefits, the deleterious effects of excessive ethanol consumption are all too evident. Excessive drinking can cause severe brain and liver damage, as well as many other health problems. Because alcohol is also considered addictive, if someone doesn't already drink wine, the research summarized in this article shouldn't be a reason to begin. So, here we are once again, with yet another French Paradox; red wine consumption, it seems, can simultaneously have neuroprotective as well as neurodegenerative effects. This means that while the polyphenols in wine may have protective benefits that extend or enhance life, too much consumption of wine may lead to health degeneration. Wine can be a double-edged sword unless it is imbibed in moderation.