Red Wine

The French Paradox is something many people today are getting quite familiar to.   Studies have suggested a close relationship between the moderate consumption of red wine and a healthy heart.   This phenomenon goes under the name French Paradox because although the French eat as much saturated fat as Americans, they seem to enjoy better overall cardiovascular health.   Even though these studies show that polyphenols, which is in red wine, can help your heart, blood circulation, and many other things, doctors still argue about this, especially American doctors disagree with this outcome.


On September 14, 1998, a team from Papworth Hospital in Cambridge England successfully demonstrated that red wine contains a high proportion of substances called polyphenols, which inhibit the deposit of fat in the blood vessels.   These plant pigments tend to be a very strong antioxidant.   Polyphenlos can be found in grape skins but they are discarded early in the process of making white wine.   The study found that “red wine, but not white wine, has antioxidant activity … and this difference is most likely due to the content of wine polyphenols in red wine.”(AJCN)   Further, red wine consumption increased polyphenols and enhanced antioxidant activity in our blood system.   The report said that red wine contained “abundant polyphenols, such as catechin, quercetin and resveratrol.   These are present because grape skins are retained in making the wine.”(AJCN)


Wine chemist Andrew L. Waterhouse told the SCIENCE News that even though many studies support the theory that antioxidants prevent heart diseases.   It is still a mystery what in the blood or the low-density lipoproteins, which shuttle fat around in the blood, is slowing the oxidation.   “In other words it may not be a direct effects of phenolics, but instead some indirect change that they trigger – such as altered fat or protein metabolism.”(Science News, Raloff)   Recent studies have only suggested that it was the...