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Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
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For decades now, we’ve been told that moderate consumption of things such as red wine can be very beneficial to our overall health. I want to talk about the true meaning of alcohol consumption, the different types of alcohol and the real cardiovascular impacts of alcohol consumption. On one hand, it has been proven that the polyphenols coming from the grapes that are then made into wine can be incredibly beneficial to the health of the heart and the entire cardiovascular system, but we also have to recognize that everything is in moderation. If we over-consume, then we go from a point of cardioprotective to cardiac detrimental.
When we’re looking at the fermentation of different fruits, such as berries and grapes, we have to look at how beneficial these can actually be for the heart. We’re looking for antioxidants and polyphenols. We’re recognizing more and more how things like resveratrol are going to work in terms of fending off oxidative stress and down-regulating inflammation in the body.†
We can look at the French paradox, which is the term that is coined for why it is that people in France seem to have this phenomenon where there’s a higher consumption of wine as part of their daily dietary intake that has led to this apparent cardioprotective potential. Everything in moderation, of course, because we know that excessive consumption of alcohol is actually incredibly detrimental to our cardiovascular system.†
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In 2019, a study in the Addiction journal looked at alcohol use and disorders of the heart. The researchers were talking about how alcohol use is a preventable and modifiable cause of different diseases. They were looking at its effects on the cardiovascular system. Within this particular study, they were looking at different observational studies and drawing different links between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease. This included looking at the impact of alcohol on blood pressure and cardiomyopathies.†
We know that small amounts of alcohol can have this really long-lasting benefit to the heart, but we also recognize that the balance is a very finite area. When we’re consuming too much, then we know that we are going to run into a problem and hence we have all of these additional impacts on overall cardiac function that can spiral out of control. The ethanol itself can have, at some degree, a beneficial effect on the function of the heart, but it can also have a very detrimental effect.†
Tune into the full podcast episode to learn more about the beneficial and detrimental aspect of alcoholic beverages.
Many scientists out there will say to avoid the alcohol path and just go with the actual polyphenols themselves. This would include supplementing with nutrients such as resveratrol or grape seed extract. In the Alcohol Research Journal, they discussed how the positive effects of drinking alcohol have to be weighed against the physiological effects, including mitochondrial dysfunction, changes in circulation and inflammatory responses, and oxidative stress, that are known to damage the cardiovascular system. If alcohol can on one hand offset that but on the other hand exacerbate it, how do we know where that balance is?†
Based on the science, one glass of red wine per day would appear to be incredibly cardioprotective. However, that is under the assumption that you are having just that one glass, which is the difficult thing for most people. We don’t want to have the alcohol itself actually exacerbate pre-existing heart conditions.†
Having polyphenols coming from your food or what you’re drinking, such as green tea and red wine, is beneficial because we know that these potent antioxidants do so much to fend off oxidative stress. But if we drink too much alcohol, then we cross over to that other side where we are then increasing our inflammation, creating more mitochondrial dysfunction and impeding the natural release of nitric oxide in the body. This is why I oftentimes will turn towards things such as straight resveratrol, grape seed extract or quercetin. We know that all of these nutrients can have long-lasting impacts in terms of cardiovascular benefits.†
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Resveratrol is a phytoalexin, a natural substance that is released by plants to protect them from fungus and other microbes, from extreme temperatures, and from excessive dampness or drought. Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes, red wine, and peanuts. As a supplement, Resveratrol is one of the first that drew a significant amount of attention from the scientific and medical communities throughout the world. As a matter of fact, it has been researched extensively for its many health benefits; to date, there are over 4,000 human studies with Resveratrol.
Resveratrol is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substance. By being small enough to penetrate almost any cell in the body, it is able to activate many latent genes that aid in our survival and potentially extend the life of our cells.
According to Amanda Williams, MPH, Director of Nutrition for InVite® Health, resveratrol has been shown to increase the activity of SIRT1 (a gene that has been identified as the possible cause of aging), published in the Journal of Science. Researchers at Harvard University led the efforts to prove the power of resveratrol in enhancing mitochondrial function and longevity. Lead researcher from Harvard, David Sinclair reported, “In the history of pharmaceuticals, there has never been a [a drug] that binds to a protein to make it run faster in the way that Resveratrol activates SIRT1.”
Read, “A Potent Antioxidant: Resveratrol’s Impact on Longevity” by Amanda Williams, MPH
As an antioxidant, it targets free radicals and limits the impact of oxidative stress on our cells. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found a strong correlation between red wine consumption and cardio-protective effects. “Red wine consumption for 2 weeks resulted in a 20% reduction in the propensity of plasma to undergo lipid peroxidation. In parallel, red wine consumption reduced the propensity of the volunteers’ LDL to undergo lipid peroxidation (in response to copper ions) as determined by a 46%, 72%, and 54% decrease in the content of TBARS, lipid peroxides, and conjugated dienes in LDL, respectively, as well as by a substantial prolongation of the lag phase required for the initiation of LDL oxidation.”
Does this mean you should consume more red wine? Probably not. The amount of red wine one would have to consume in order to reap Resveratrol’s benefits is unattainable. But, according to Amanda Williams, a person taking 20mg of Resveratrol supplements may ingest the equivalent amount of Resveratrol found in roughly 40 glasses of red wine.[1] Cheers to that!
[1] https://www.invitehealth.com/Article-antioxidant-Reservatrol-Longevity.html