"polyphenols" news and stories

Over the past few years, as wine has undergone repeated studies, it has started to seem like the modern-day fountain of youth. According to its various supporters, it can fight off streptococcus bacteria, reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, and flush one's system with antioxidants. Still, all of these pale beside wine's greatest claim to fame: the so-called French paradox.

For years, scientists have wondered how the French, who have one of the most saturated-fat rich diets in the world, manage to have such a low incidence of heart disease. While they haven't been able to scientifically determine the mechanism at work, anecdotal evidence has suggested that France's impressive wine consumption might have something to do with the paradox. Recently, scientists at Hebrew University in Jerusalem have confirmed the link and have even determined part of its mechanism.

According to the researchers, when the body digests meat, particularly turkey and red meat, it produces two toxic chemicals, malondialdehyde and hydroperoxide. These compounds can cause cancer, inflammation, and heart disease. However, red wine contains polyphenols, a particular kind of antioxidant, that neutralizes the toxins and prevents their absorbtion into the bloodstream.

Although I've always felt this way, it is nice to be vindicated. That lovely, thick, cloudy apple "cider" that you see in your farmers market or supermarket in the fall is way better for you than the clear, filtered apple juice.

Researchers have found that the cloudy cider has much more antioxidants than clear apple juice. Just as you would think, when the cloudy apple juice is filtered all the good stuff gets stripped right out, along with much of the tart and tangy flavor. Sure the clear juice looks nicer, and has a much longer shelf life, but the health benefits are much less.

The cloudy juice has up to four times the levels of polyphenols, a group of antioxidant plant compounds and in experiments the cloudy juice was the more effective free radical scavenger. The research even looked at juice made from several varieties of apples and found that some have even more health benefits than others. Of course the old adage of an apple a day keeps the doctor away still stands. If you want to most vitamins, antioxidants, polyphenols, etc. then just eat a nice fresh whole apple.

On just a side note. What most of the US calls cider, that nice cloudy fresh squeezed apple juice, is more properly called sweet cider. Cider, also called hard cider, is the alcoholic, fermented juice.

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Anthocyanins, which contribute to the color of red grapes, are a great source of antioxidants and their existence is one of the reasons that red wine is considered to be so heart-healthy. Since red wines use the skin of the grapes in their production, creating a red color, most or all of the antioxidants from the grapes are also found in the wine. For this reason, red wine is thought to be a healthier choice than white wine.

It turns out that the flesh of the grapes is just as heart-healthy as the skin is, as a new study by American and Italian scientists has shown. The results demonstrated that both parts of the grapes reduced the chance of a heart attack and heart attack size when compared to the control group - even though the flesh contains no anthocyanins, but instead has other kinds of polyphenols and organic acids that have antioxidants.

Further study will be needed to isolate the exact chemicals that give these properties to the grapes, but white wine fans can enjoy their favorite drink without having to worry that they're missing out on the heath benefits of red wine.

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