Red Wine and Anti Aging Effect: Scientists Find Why Not All Red Wines Are Created Equal

Yes, it is true, scientists have confirmed red wine and anti aging effects.

• Here is what researchers found when they took a closer look at red wine and anti aging benefits.

Yes, moderate drinkers of red wine have been found in population studies to have less heart disease than non drinkers.

• But here’s the catch. Only traditional production methods were found to give the high yields of the active ingredient found abundantly in the wines where people live longer, as in SW France and in Sardinia in Italy. What is that ingredient?

Most Potent Compound For Red Wine and Anti Aging Effects

A research team tested wines from the regions in SW France and Sardinia that are associated with longevity to see if they were different from wines from other countries and conducted mass spectrometry tests.

• They found surprisingly higher levels of polyphenols in these wines than in more modern wines from “new world” countries – up to 5 to 10 times higher.

What was the difference? “The traditional production methods used ensure that the beneficial compounds are efficiently extracted. This may explain the strong association between consumption of traditional tannic wines with overall wellbeing, reflected in greater longevity.” (Nature, Nov 30, 2006)

• What is the protective ingredient?

Professor Roger Corder from Queen Mary’s William Harvey Research Institute and Professor Alan Crozier from the University of Glasgow used laboratory tests to screen for biological activity and then purified the most potent polyphenols.

When they purified the most biologically active polyphenols, they identified PROCYANIDINS to be the most abundant flavanoid in red wine – up to 1 gram per liter they found in some traditional style red wines.

Fortunately, there are other foods that contain procyanidins, dark chocolate, apples and cranberries.

• RESVERATROL is usually mentioned as the key beneficial component in red wine.

However, the researchers found the levels of this polyphenol to be so low that you would have to drink 1000 liters a day to get the benefits.

• For a steady supply of resveratrol, which has been scientifically shown to have anti aging benefits, it is best to take a quality supplement from a proven company, on a daily basis.

Get Recommendation for Multi Vitamin with Resveratrol:

Best Wines for Red Wine Anti Aging Benefits?

What’s different about traditional wines?

Traditional wines use full extraction methods, require more skill to make, and are more tannic. Newer wines are often described as having “smooth tannins” or “ripe tannins,” with less or virtually no procyanidins.

Researchers identified the following factors that affect the procyanidin content: the wine maker’s selection of grapes based on ripeness, the contact time between seeds and skins with the fermenting juice, and whether any filtration is done.

• Traditional wines have a 3 – 4 weeks fermentation and maceration with seeds and skins, resulting in the full extraction of procyanidins. Modern style wines typically only have a few days fermentation with seeds and skin, which is only just enough time to extract the color from the skins.

• Overripe grapes make a wine with less procyanidins and higher sugar. A red wine that is sweeter and is higher in alcohol, has almost no procyanidins.

What Are The Red Wine Anti Aging Health Benefits?

There are heart-protective effect of procyanidins on the blood vessels, giving red wine's anti aging benefits. Laboratory tests have shown benefits on arterial function -- polyphenols have been shown to have a vascular protective effect on the endothelial cells that line the arteries, according to Professors Corder and Crozier.

• However, you won’t get the red wine and anti aging benefits by drinking smooth, sweet, very alcoholic wines.

• The pattern of wine drinking that confers health benefits is by using smaller amounts -- one or two glasses with a meal.

How Much and Which Ones Give Red Wine Anti Aging Benefits?

The clinical trials on grape seed extract have shown that 200 to 300 mg per day will lower blood pressure. Two small 125 ml glasses of procyanidin-rich red wine would provide this amount, say the researchers.

Which wines do they suggest?

• Using the tannat grape grown in southwest France is ideal.

• They suggest the Madiran wine from the southwest France, and in general, the Cabernet sauvignon and Nebbiolo grapes.

Unfortunately the traditional wines are more costly and difficult to make, so that most wine makers choose not to make them.

Red Wine and Anti Aging Effects: Why Not All Red Wines Are Created Equal

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