To Your Health:
Adventures with a Corkscrew Twist!

By Donovan Adendorf, D.C.

Resveratrol. The word does not roll off the tongue as easy as say a good Merlot, but remember this word because it is fast becoming the buzzword in the world of viniculture.

It had intensely been studied, since its discovery, by researchers at Cornell University since 1992. Resveratrol is a polyphenol found in red wine and is also found in some grapes, some berries and also nuts. The common belief is that plants produce resveratrol as a survival response to stress and to ward off infections and repair damaged cells. In harvesting grapes the production of resveratrol is preserved in the fermentation process and further preserved in the bottling process (corked to reduce oxidation) and is then taken in by whomever is lucky enough to drink it. The notion here is that the anti-oxidant and blood thinning propensities of red wines are directly transferred to humans. To this extent researchers from Harvard School of Medicine, department of Pathology, have studied Resveratrol and discovered that it could extend the lifespan of a yeast cell by 70 percent.

The hope here is that the same could be said for the rest of us up on the DNA ladder, but that remains to be seen. The beneficial effects of resveratrol are further reportedly linked to the lowering of cholesterol levels, increased cardio vascular health and, incredibly enough, reducing the growth of skin melanomas. The yeast study alone was published in the August 2003 online issue of the journal Nature. I can almost hear a buzzing of French wine masters saying: “But, we knew this all along, it is a common belief in France that one to three glasses of red wine per day gives you better health,” (cardio vascular health, that is, I would hasten to add). The quantity has been confirmed by the Harvard study whom believe that there is enough resveratrol in one glass of red wine to have beneficial health effects, but that less resveratrol works better than large ingested quantities.

Which brings us right back to the French. This concept is well known in viniculture and healthcare circles as “The French Paradox.” The French have a very large fat consumption in their diet, yet have a very low coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality rate. Serge Renaud and Michel de Lorgeril in Lyon brought this to public attention in a study on the effect of wine on blood platelets. Michael Criqui and Brenda Ringel from the UC San Diego also confirmed the findings in a later study. There appears to be no dispute these days that moderate wine consumption is associated with lower CHD mortality.

The latest research is focused on the other flavonoids also found in wine, one of which (Anthocyanins) is known to us in Traverse City as abundant in cherries. But unlike cherries, wine has no effect on gout. Now this might sound like nothing to somebody that has never heard of gout, but for those unfortunate gout sufferers the good news is that wine does not effect gout one way or the other, where beer and other liquor will make it worse. So, drink up! Having said that, let us take a look at the other reported beneficial effects of wine on health.

The New England Journal Of Medicine (Volume 341, number 21) reported that one glass of wine (once a day to once a week) could reduce the incidence of stroke. This study followed 22,071 male physicians between the ages of 40 to 84 and found that moderate drinkers had a 20% reduction in ischemic stroke (this is the most common form of stroke). Alcohol had no effect on hemorrhagic stroke (this is sudden bleeding on the brain, a less common form of stroke). This study was followed up with The Northern Manhattan Stroke Study who had the same conclusions as the New England study with the addition that it was true for Blacks, Whites and Hispanics.

The question has often been asked of me if there is a problem being on an Atkins diet and drinking wine. The short answer here is no. The sugar in wine gets converted to alcohol by yeast. The nice thing is that the sweetness of white wine is due to the flavor and thus not due to sugar, that is what makes it so…yummy for the lack of another expression.

The USDA did an evaluation on the carbohydrate content in wine and if you have any questions, please feel free to look it up on the Internet. The carbohydrates listed in wine are so-called “carbohydrates by difference” and they are byproducts of carbohydrate fermentation and do not raise blood sugar levels. For health’s sake, I would prefer to have red wine, but white wine has less so-called carbohydrates. Along with this ‘small’ benefit we also discovered on WebMD (in the medical news) that white wine apparently has a beneficial effect on lung capacity, according to Holger J. Schuneman, MD from The University of Buffalo School of Medicine. (This was presented at the American Thoracic Society’s 2003 annual meeting.) Lung capacity was measured after ingestion of white wine and it was discovered that 1 glass of white wine was associated with 1.5% increase in lung function, 3 glasses a day increase the lung function by 3%.

As a word of caution, tannins and sulfites are two items that are listed on most bottles of wine as a precaution. If migraines are a problem, then red wine should be avoided. The tannins in red wine cause migraines where the sulfites are more abundant in white wines and could cause headaches in people sensitive to sulfites specifically, but this is greatly the exception.

Finally, the Washington Post of Feb. 6, 1999 showcased a wine label that was approved by the BATF. One label approved yesterday by federal regulators, makes this suggestion: “The proud people who made this wine encourage you to consult your family doctor about the health effects of wine consumption.”

(With grateful thanks to the wine makers of Chateau Chantal, Mission Peninsula, Michigan for lending assistance to this article and its content.)

Dr. Adendorf practices at West Bay Chiropractic on West Bay Shore Drive in Traverse City (231-941-4030) and also in Gaylord (989-858-2345).