Best-of-the-Best Heart Healthy Foods: R is for Red Wine

Several years ago, a group of researchers from around the world set out to find which among a select group of known heart-healthy foods was actually the healthiest. The answer: red wine.

They found that drinking five ounces of red wine in and of itself has the ability to reduce the risk of heart disease by 32 percent. The other foods and their contribution to saving heart health:

Garlic: 1-to-2 cloves a day – 25%
Chocolate: 3.5 oz. a day – 21%
Fruits and vegetables: 14 ounces a day – 21%
Fish: 4 oz. a day – 14%
Almonds: 2.5 ounces a day – 12.5%
A few years ago, I interviewed R. Curtis Ellison, M.D., one of America’s leading heart researchers and the person who coined the phrase “The French Paradox.” It was his observation that red wine was the reason the French have a low rate of heart disease even though they eat a diet rich in butter, cream and cheese.

He told me that moderate drinking – and this holds true for alcohol in all its consumable forms – has been found to promote a healthy heart in a variety of ways, but its most dramatic effect is its influence on the levels of cholesterol in the blood. It helps lower bad LDL cholesterol, but more importantly it markedly increases the levels of heart-protecting HDL cholesterol.

Studies have found that moderate drinkers are much less likely to form arterial clots that lead to a heart attack or stroke than heavy drinkers or people who don’t drink at all. And, if clots form, they are more likely to dissolve rapidly in moderate drinkers. Though these findings hold true for all alcohol, the most significant benefits come from drinking wine.

The Fruit of the Vine

What wine contains and hard liquor lacks are polyphenols, special nutrients found in plant foods. Wine contains more than 500 active substances, but two polyphenols in particular have been the focus of scientific study: resveratrol and saponins.

Scientists believe that these substances (and possibly others) work in synergy to alter blood chemistry in ways that help lower cholesterol and prevent other processes that lead to hardening of the arteries.

The plant of note is the grape vine and the wine of choice is red, because it is abundantly richer in polyphenols than white. Heart-protecting polyphenols are concentrated in the skin and seeds, which are used in making red wine but are removed to make white wine.

Not only does red wine contain more polyphenols, but scientists believe that the fermenting process that turns the grapes into red wine concentrates and expands the action of the nutrients. As a result, the polyphenol content of red wine has been found to be as much as 10 times greater than it is in white. You can, however, get benefits from white wine, but just not as many.

One Glass a Day

The operative word for all alcohol consumption is moderation. For women that means one five-ounce glass of wine every day or at least five days a week. For men, moderation is considered two glasses.

This does not mean you can save it up and have all your drinks over one or two nights. The beneficial effects, according to Dr. Ellison, may last only 24 to 36 hours after the wine is consumed.

The second caveat is that wine is not considered a healthy benefit for people who cannot drink or should not drink for other health reasons.

Source: Examiner.com