Mediterranean diet: should you drink wine or eat grapes ?

Introduction

Certain scientific studies have shown that the mortalityrates from heart diseases in France gradually become lower, in spite of thefact that the consumption of saturated fats gradually gets higher. Theincidence of heart diseases is 50 percent lower than in the United States, andit is all due to the consumption of red wine. This is why there is a growinginterest in various health benefits that the red wine provides. When taken inmoderation (two glasses per day for men and glass per day for women) red winemay be of great help when it comes to fighting off the free radicals, reducingthe amount and severity of damage they cause on the molecular level inside thehuman body, decreasing the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood andincreasing the levels of good cholesterol in the blood. Various studies havebeen focused on the powerful antioxidant properties of red wine and they havealso shown that the cardiovascular protective effect is present due to certainchemicals called polyphenols.

Phytochemicals: Medicine of the future

Polyphenols are a certain group of chemicals which come fromthe category of nutrients known by the name of phytochemicals. Phyto is a Greekword for the “plant”. Phytochemicals are commonly found in various sorts ofplants and they are very efficient in protecting the human body from variousailments and medical conditions. Up till now, there are more than 900 differentphytochemicals discovered by scientists. Each serving of fresh vegetables andfruits may contain more than 100 different phytochemicals. Phytochemicals arethose who are responsible for the lowered levels of LDL cholesterol andincreased levels of HDL cholesterol in the blood. They are also very efficient inrecycling the vitamin A as a very potent antioxidant. These chemical compoundsmay also come in very handy when it comes to preventing platelets from stickingto the walls of the arteries, preventing the blood from clotting and increasingthe production of beneficial nitric oxide.

Red versus white wine

White wine shares certain health benefits with its redcounterpart, but numerous scientific studies have shown that it is simply notthat effective. This is mostly due to the fact that red wine contains up to 20times more polyphenols than the red wine. The antioxidant potential of red wineis also up to ten times higher than the antioxidant potential of white wine.Polyphenols are derived from the skins of the grapes used in the production ofwine.