Wine, beer, liquor benefit the heart.They call it the French paradox The French paradox refers to the observation that people in France suffer relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease, despite having a diet relatively rich in saturated fats.[1] The phenomenon was first noted by Irish physician Samuel Black in 1819. : Despite a diet high in saturated fats, the French suffer far less heart disease than do their U.S. counterparts. In studying the phenomenon, researchers noted that the French drink more red wine than people in the United States do. Armed with that information, some scientists claimed that flavonoids flavonoids, n.pl common plant pigment compounds that act as antioxidants, enhance the effects of vitamin C, and strengthen connective tissue around capillaries. in the wine serve as antioxidants Antioxidants Substances that reduce the damage of the highly reactive free radicals that are the byproducts of the cells. Mentioned in: Aging, Nutritional Supplements antioxidants, n. , which protect the heart. Several recent studies have maintained that red wine is more healthful health·ful adj. 1. Conducive to good health; salutary. 2. Healthy. health  ful·ness n. for the heart than other types of alcohol. Now, scientists from Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. It is a prestigious American medical school located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. in Boston report that a cold beer provides the same heart benefits as the fruit of the vine. J. Michael Gaziano and his colleagues studied 340 men and women who had suffered heart attacks and compared their drinking habits to those of an equal number of healthy people of the same ages. The team found that drinking one-half drink to two drinks-regardless of the type of alcohol-per day reduces the risk of a heart attack by 45 percent. Moreover, beer, wine, and liquor all raised the concentrations of HDL (Hardware Description Language) A language used to describe the functions of an electronic circuit for documentation, simulation or logic synthesis (or all three). Although many proprietary HDLs have been developed, Verilog and VHDL are the major standards. , or "good," cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent. Gaziano maintains that the increase in HDL explains the reduction in heart attack risk. "Two martinis is no different from two glasses of red wine," he says. That's not to say that flavonoids don't benefit the heart. John D. Folts of the University of Wisconsin-Madison “University of Wisconsin” redirects here. For other uses, see University of Wisconsin (disambiguation). A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a wide spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs, and student activities. maintains that it takes a lot of alcohol-three times the legal limit for driving-to help the heart by reducing platelet activity. He and his colleagues studied the effects of a capsule form of flavonoids on blocked arteries in monkeys. The flavonoids worked as well as, if not better than, aspirin at turning down the platelet activity and thus unblocking the monkeys' arteries. There is an advantage to flavonoids. "Adrenaline can completely wipe out aspirin's beneficial effects," says Folts. "But adrenaline doesn't affect the flavonoids." Whether it's the alcohol alone or the flavonoids in the alcoholic beverages, a drink a day may protect the heart. But before you say, "Bottoms up!" Gaziano cautions, remember that drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol damages the heart. |
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