The Truth About Red Wine- Red Wine benefits

a glass of red wine a day keeps a gym membership away if you are one of those people who loves red wine and hates exercise this might be excellent news but is it actually news factor myth a glass of red wine is equivalent to an hour of exercise but this is without a doubt a myth why well that goes back to how the methanol II came to be back in 2012 a research study discovered that a compound found in red wine resveratrol improves skeletal muscle strength and cardiac muscle during exercise training in rats and therefore enhance their exercise performance fast-forward two years later and the media burst with numerous headlines like science says a glass of red wine may be equivalent to an hour at the gym so although it's difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the myth somehow something got lost in translation we can be fairly certain that it arose due to a misinterpretation by a reporter.

who was either genuinely misinformed or who thought the headline would attract more readers to make matters worse after the extravagant publicity on the topic died down it resurfaced a year later when in 2015 similar news articles were being published by the day why was it that people just couldn't let it go well it could be because of wishful thinking or because of the social acceptance of drinking red wine or perhaps it was a combination of both whatever the reasons they seem to be dwindling as the truth about the study is surfacing as news agencies contact the source and lead author of the original study dr. Jason dick let's see what he and a study have to say have you ever wondered what it is about red wine that makes it so healthy well red wine is believed to have many health benefits due to a compound known as resveratrol it is present in many plant-based foods in our diets like peanuts cranberries and blueberries resveratrol is an antioxidant also released by grape

skins in response to physical damage this is why red wine contains much higher amounts than white wine since it is only red wine that is fermented with grape skins and not white wine now you may be asking what is an antioxidant and how does it work antioxidants are compounds that remove harmful substances known as Pro oxidants and prevent them from damaging the body Pro oxidants can be acquired internally or externally due to harmful substances like UV light cigarette smoke or car exhaust without enough antioxidants Pro oxidants can attack DNA proteins and fats in the body causing cell and tissue damage this is known as oxidative stress and is known to cause several diseases such as cardiovascular and neurological as well as inflammatory problems and aging but not to worry because the human body can produce antioxidants itself as well as obtain them externally by eating foods such as fruits vegetables tea wine nuts and seeds to fight off Pro oxidants in the study that originated all this media attention researchers looked at four different groups of rats inactive rats following either a standard diet or a diet with resveratrol and in other two groups 

who went through exercise training and either a regular diet or a diet supplemented by resveratrol with rats that consumed resveratrol and exercised researchers found that like muscle contraction force and duration improved suggesting improvements in overall exercise performance rats without did not have this improvement researchers also found the breakdown of stored fats for energy in skeletal muscle and use of oxygen was greater in rats a consumed resveratrol and exercised additionally these rats were also found to have an increased heart ability to adapt to high exercise workloads now remember how resveratrol is an antioxidant released by grape skins during the winemaking process well the benefits of humans consuming resveratrol are still under debate most resveratrol studies conducted have been performed on rat models like the ones previously mentioned that were given a much higher dose of res ritual than a human would consume by moderately drinking red wine this suggests that the small amounts humans ingest from their diets may not be enough to have many benefits in multiple studies resveratrol effects were studied in humans 

who consumed a typical glass of wine it was observed to be easily and quickly absorbed by the body showing that it would have very short-term effects if any the amount of resveratrol absorbed into the body was also shown to be different for each person and unrelated to the type of meal eaten based on this data it is hard to say whether or not resveratrol consumed from red wine and other dietary sources is in large enough quantities to have the health benefits it is so widely believed to have in summary resveratrol is an antioxidant an antioxidant is a substance that protects the body from many harmful substances studies on rats show improved skeletal muscle and cardiac function in those who consumed resveratrol and exercised however in humans moderately drinking red wine does not allow us to consume resveratrol in large enough quantities for it to have health benefits so what's the truth due to the powerful antioxidants that it contains red wine does actually have some health benefits these range from reducing oxidative damage helping prevent heart disease and cancer and fighting inflammation and blood clotting there is even research linking 

daily red wine consumption to reduced risk of dementia and depression however these benefits are only observed in moderate doses of red wine which researchers usually describe as one to two glasses a day in their studies higher intake is shown to cause alcohol dependency weight gain and increased risk of liver disease and cardiovascular disease due to the risk of alcohol dependency and it's negative consequences there are many other more effective ways to improve health that researchers recommend but don't require alcohol consumption such as maintaining a healthy diet engaging in regular exercise and getting enough sleep so although research shows that there are some health benefits of drinking red wine in moderation there is not enough antioxidants and resveratrol in wine to replicate the benefits of exercising thus we conclude that the myth that a glass of red wine is equivalent to an hour at the gym is quite exaggerated and misleading please visit McMasters demystifying medicine website and youtube channel if you would like to watch more informational videos like this [Music] you