I edit for some researchers in Quebec who do fascinating chemistry. This
month I've read some very cool papers on the compounds found in maple syrup and
their benefits, (I'm convinced: definitely have all you can get!) and the same
for red wine/grape juice.
When returning a paper to Viviane Bélair* today, I asked her:
What I learned from this paper is I
should drink more grape juice. And maybe more wine too. :) Do you think the
alcohol removes the good anti-Alzheimer effect of the grapes?
She gave me a splendid answer.
Good question! I found this article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657506/.
(A little backgrounder for you here from Christa: anti-oxidants
are the molecules that help against aging, cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease,
and the like. They reduce the aging of your cells because they absorb the
oxidation reactions that would otherwise harm you. Pro-oxidants, by that
same idea, accelerate aging because they increase how your body reacts when
approached by oxidizing forces, for example the sun.)
"Conclusions:
• One drink of red wine, beer, or stout provided
equivalent increases in plasma antioxidant activity.
• Three drinks of red wine, beer, or stout provided
equivalent increases in plasma pro-oxidant activity.
This may explain, at least in part, the decreased risk of
cataract and atherosclerosis from daily consumption of one drink of
different types of alcoholic beverages as well as the increased risk
from daily consumption of three drinks of alcoholic beverages. The
plasma pro-oxidant activity appears to be due to ethanol metabolism, whereas
the antioxidant activity may be due to the absorption of polyphenols in the
beverages.’’
The upshot?
One drink of wine or beer provides the benefits of the antioxidant, but
three drinks probably increases risks more than benefits, because of the
pro-oxidant effect of alcohol.
So do keep that bottle of red wine at
home, but don't drink a whole bottle every night.
Oh, and by the way, drinking grape juice
is just as beneficial as drinking red wine, by most studies.
A little bonus:
Many doctors say that the BEST anti-aging thing you can do is stop
eating for a while. I heard the reason succinctly stated by Dr. Adam McLeod**,
something like this:
When you always give your body
enough or more than enough food, your cells create a garbage pile and never
recycle the garbage. It is in that trash heap that piles up in each cell where
toxins and cancers grow.
If you fast periodically, you force
your body's cells to clean up. They have to re-use the perfectly good building
blocks out of the trash heap, and hence your machine stays lean and toxins
don't have a trash heap to grow in.
So try a day now and then not eating, just drinking water and lemon
juice, maybe with some cayenne pepper and maple syrup added to it. It'll make
you feel good and live longer.
(If a day drinking water and lemon juice makes you feel terrible, that's
a very interesting sign indeed and means you have some work to do -- contact me
if you have questions and I'll point you to some more sources.)
**http://yaletownnaturopathic.com/service/dr-adam-mcleod-nd/
**http://www.dreamhealer.com/about/
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