wine health

Don’t be a “WINE-o”!!

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courtesy of nutritionexpress.com

courtesy of nutritionexpress.com

UPDATE: Just published JAMA report by Semba followed an elderly group aged >65yrs of men and women free-living in Italy’s Tuscany chianti region (no worries on the limitations of good vino there!) from 1998-2009. The study examined the resveratrol levels achieved  through the diet (via wine consumption) in urinary metabolites – unique biological markers of the target compound from metabolism- associated with causes of mortality (incidence of cancer or cardiovascular disease) and its corresponding inflammatory response in the immune system. Results show no indication of levels in resveratrol from the diet and predictive inflammatory markers , cancer or cardiovascular disease. The resveratrol levels cannot be achieved through a Western diet compared to studies conducted in animals* with high doses of resveratrol that did show a positive correlation. The mechanism of resveratrol in the cell activates an enzyme that turns “on” a longevity gene (1) therefore may be beneficial to a long and healthy life.

*note: the animal studies conducted ingest 100-1000x more resveratrol compared to an average human diet.

courtesy of singularityhub.com

courtesy of singularityhub.com

Resveratrol is the most studied polyphenol and popularly associated with red wine. It is considered to contain anti-oxidant properties and have positive effects in cancer research, cardiovascular disease, and decreased mortality. More information on red wine, antioxidants and heart disease from the Mayo Clinic.

This may be a point for beer consumption. To read more about the nutrient value of beer read my post “I think, therefore I drink” compared to red wine.

References:

1. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7117/full/nature05354.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/13/311904587/resveratrol-may-not-be-the-elixir-in-red-wine-and-chocolate

© Charlene C Ho and its a NUTTY, NUTTYgrrl world…blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Charlene C Ho and its a NUTTY, NUTTYgrrl world…blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

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I think, therefore I drink.

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Words to live by... (BeertopiaHK)

Words to live by… (BeertopiaHK)

I recently attended the Beertopia event with 400+ beers available to taste. It got me thinking of the merits of beer and my mentoring professor whose motherland is the emerald isle. He always professed (pun-intended and I paraphrase)”…the Irish are hardy people, we survived on beer. How else do you think we got through the famine?”

There are many health benefits attributed to wine, the anti-oxidant factor called resveratrol, is the most studied wine compound with definite links with heart health (1). Although, realistically, the amount in 1 glass of wine do not equate to the amount of the phytochemical compound used in studies that show benefits. The health connection may not be so farfetched due to the main ingredient in wine: grapes. For beer, the main ingredients is water with a bit of fermented plants-barley and hops-for “flavor”. Overall, there may be more nutrients* in beer when compared to wine. *Vitamin B family complex, proanthocyanidin. However, BOTH wine and beer have more micronutrients than the average person would think such as calcium or magnesium. Below is a brief summary from the handy Google tool for nutrient comparison, just type in the search “x compare to y” or in this case “red wine vs beer”. I did compare the data to the standard USDA Nutrient Lab Database and they were similar enough for a rough eyeball comparison, but not to used for exact calculations in research.

Google Tool nutrient comparison between red wine and beer.

Google Tool nutrient comparison between red wine and beer.

What is a “drink”? (defined by USDA)

  • 12 oz beer
  • 5 oz wine
  • 1.5 oz spirit

The recommendation is 1 drink/day for women; 2 drinks/day for men. Interestingly, I looked at the France’s Manger Bouger, the equivalent to the USDA’s MyPlate (2) since the culture of food and eating is very different from a typical American.

France's drink recommendation

France’s drink recommendation

Their recommendation is: 2 glasses/day for women; 3 glasses/day for men.(3) Just a little bit different than USDA’s recommendations.

References:

Giancoli A., A Toast to Good Health ADA Times Winter 2011.

1.http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/red-wine/art-20048281

2. http://www.choosemyplate.gov

3. http://www.mangerbouger.fr/bien-manger/que-veut-dire-bien-manger-127/les-9-reperes/eau-a-volonte-pendant-et-entre-les-repas.html

© Charlene C Ho and its a NUTTY, NUTTYgrrl world…blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Charlene C Ho and its a NUTTY, NUTTYgrrl world…blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.