The Sunday News
(1) REDUCING risk of depression — A team from several universities in Spain reported in the journal BMC Medicine that drinking wine may reduce the risk of depression. The researchers gathered data on 2 683 men and 2 822 women aged from 55 to 80 years over a seven-year period. The participants had to complete a food frequency questionnaire every year, which included details on their alcohol consumption as well as their mental health. The authors found that men and women who drank two to seven glasses of wine per week were less likely to be diagnosed with depression. Even after taking into account lifestyle factors which could influence their findings, the significantly lower risk of developing depression still stood.
(2) Preventing colon cancer — Scientists from the University of Leicester, UK, reported at the 2nd International Scientific Conference on Resveratrol and Health that regular, moderate red wine consumption can reduce the rate of bowel tumours by approximately 50 percent.
(3) Preventing breast cancer — Regular consumption of most alcoholic drinks increases the risk of breast cancer. However, red wine intake has the opposite effect, researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found. In the Journal of Women’s Health, the scientists explained that chemicals in the skins and seeds of red grapes reduce estrogen levels while raising testosterone in premenopausal women — which results in a lower risk of developing breast cancer. The authors emphasized that it is not just the red wine that has the beneficial compounds, but its raw material — red grape. They suggested that when women are choosing an alcoholic drink to consume, they should consider red wine. They reiterated that they were not encouraging wine over grapes. The study surprised many researchers. Most studies point to a higher risk of breast cancer from consuming alcoholic drinks, because alcohol raises a woman’s estrogen levels, which in turn encourage the growth of cancer cells. Study co-author, Dr Chrisandra Shufelt, MD, said: “If you were to have a glass of wine with dinner, you may want to consider a glass of red. Switching may shift your risk.”
(4) Protecting from severe sunburn — Wine and grape derivatives can help reduce the damaging effects of UV (ultraviolet) light, scientists from the University of Barcelona in Spain reported in The Journal of Agricultural Food and Chemistry. The authors explained that when UV rays make contact with human skin, they activate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which oxidise fats, DNA and other large molecules, which in turn stimulate other enzymes that harm skin cells. Flavonoids, found in wine and grapes, inhibit the formation of the ROS in skin cells that are exposed to sunlight.
(5) Damage after stroke — Red wine may protect the brain from stroke damage, researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine wrote in the journal Experimental Neurology. Professor Sylvain Doré believes that resveratrol in red wine raises levels of heme oxygenase, an enzyme known to protect nerve cells in the brain from damage. When somebody suffers a stroke, the brain is ready to protect itself because of higher enzyme levels. Doré added that nobody yet knows whether it is just the resveratrol that has the health benefits, or it is the alcohol in the wine which may be needed to concentrate the levels of the compound.
(6) Protecting from prostate cancer — A study published in the June 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch reported that male moderate red wine drinkers were 52 percent as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as men who never drank red wine. They defined moderate drinking as an average of four to seven glasses of red wine per week. Initially, the Seattle researchers looked at general alcohol consumption and found no link to prostate cancer risk. However, when they went one step further and looked at different alcoholic beverages, they identified a clear association between red wine drinking and lower prostate cancer risk. Even extremely moderate red wine consumption (one glass per week) reduced men’s risk of prostate cancer by 6 percent, the authors informed. — www.medicalnewstoday.com
