Sunday, April 11, 2010

Wine, Antioxidants and Wellness

Though you are no doubt familiar with the term antioxidants, learning more about them can greatly benefit you in your quest for optimal health, longevity and disease prevention. Antioxidants are compounds produced in the body and found in many foods─especially fruits and vegetables─that act within our bodies as a vital, frontline defense against the free radicals that constantly and adversely affect our cells. Did you know that during the past 20 years, more than 30,000 scientific papers have been written about antioxidants and their fight to protect your body from free radical damage?

Certainly, free-radical damage is impossible to avoid, as these dangerous molecules are produced naturally in our bodies and are further promoted by our exposure to stress, pollution, pesticides, chemicals, cigarette smoke, medications, solar radiation, and more. However, they pose an ongoing and significant threat to your health and well-being, damaging cells through the process of oxidation. In fact scientists now believe that free radicals play a role in nearly every known disease including heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and arthritis, among others. Many of the processes we call "aging" are in fact manifestations of cumulative damage done by free radicals to tissue such as skin, blood vessels, and the brain.

So, how can you defend yourself? In short, the more dietary antioxidants you can consume each day, the more protection you gain against a host of diseases, including the one Americans fear most: cancer. As with all major diseases, prevention is the best medicine, and antioxidants are your allies! The key is targeting the richest dietary sources of these highly protective compounds. One guide is ORAC value─Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity units─which is a means of measuring antioxidant density developed by the National Institute on Aging in the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To see a huge list of foods ranked by their ORAC values, go to http://oracvalues.com/

Where does red wine come in? In terms of ORAC value, red wines such as Cabernet Sauvignon rank above apples, strawberries, cherries, broccoli, almonds─even pomegranate juice. Red wine might be justifiably called a dietary health hero based on hundreds of studies discussing wine antioxidants, as well as flavonoids like anthocyanidins, saponins and catechins, all of which have unique health promoting properties. These include preventing blood clots, disabling cholesterol from damaging blood vessel walls, and improving arterial function. And when it comes to resveratrol─wines starring antioxidant─the potential benefits are astounding. Among them, it appears that this phenolic compound affects age-regulated genes, allowing cells to live longer and offsetting the risk of cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Clearly, red wine in moderation is a powerful aid to protecting and even boosting your wellness. For best results, take your cue from Mediterranean wisdom and incorporate your wine in the context of an overall healthy diet and lifestyle.

No comments:

Post a Comment