First, lets review what an "antioxidant" actually is.
"Anti” means “against, or opposed to” and “oxidant” refers to the process of oxidation (when a molecular process in the body causes an increase in oxygen). So an antioxidant is a molecule that slows or stops an increase in oxygen. Now normally we think of oxygen as a great thing - we need it to live! But increasing oxygen in certain chemical reactions can cause free-radicals (molecules with unpaired electrons) due to the transfer of electrons that happens. A free-radical can be highly reactive due to that unpaired electron, which can cause damage to our cells and leave them susceptible to disease.
Antioxidants go in and fill in that missing electron, making the free-radical whole again. So you can imagine with pollution in the air, chemicals and pesticides in the water we drink and food we eat, sun damage to our skin, there is a lot of cell damage that happens to our bodies that leave plenty of free-radicals running around. So, in a nutshell, antioxidants are very important to our daily lives, which is why you're hearing the word so often.
There are many different types of antioxidants. They are split into 2 groups - those that are soluble in water and those that are soluble in lipids (fats). This matters in the body because we have both liquids (blood, etc) and lipids (cell membranes, etc) which are in need of antioxidant activity.
The Antioxidant in Red Wine
The antioxidant that is found in Red Wine, the alcohol most commonly associated with antioxidants is called "Resveratrol" which is considered a polyphenol antioxidant (the term refers to the chemical structure) and Phytonutrient (chemical compounds that naturally occur in plants). Studies of resveratrol in mice/rats have shown anti-inflammatory effects, blood sugar lowering effects, and may combat obesity, cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, most of these studies have not been repeated in humans yet.
Resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes used to make wine. The reason red wine is said to be higher in resveratrol than white wine is because red wine is fermented with the skins longer than white wine. But guess what? You can just eat grapes and skip the whole fermenting thing and still get the resveratrol - hellloooooo.....
Peanuts, blueberries and cranberries also have resveratrol. Below are a few charts for comparison.
"Anti” means “against, or opposed to” and “oxidant” refers to the process of oxidation (when a molecular process in the body causes an increase in oxygen). So an antioxidant is a molecule that slows or stops an increase in oxygen. Now normally we think of oxygen as a great thing - we need it to live! But increasing oxygen in certain chemical reactions can cause free-radicals (molecules with unpaired electrons) due to the transfer of electrons that happens. A free-radical can be highly reactive due to that unpaired electron, which can cause damage to our cells and leave them susceptible to disease.
Antioxidants go in and fill in that missing electron, making the free-radical whole again. So you can imagine with pollution in the air, chemicals and pesticides in the water we drink and food we eat, sun damage to our skin, there is a lot of cell damage that happens to our bodies that leave plenty of free-radicals running around. So, in a nutshell, antioxidants are very important to our daily lives, which is why you're hearing the word so often.
There are many different types of antioxidants. They are split into 2 groups - those that are soluble in water and those that are soluble in lipids (fats). This matters in the body because we have both liquids (blood, etc) and lipids (cell membranes, etc) which are in need of antioxidant activity.
The Antioxidant in Red Wine
The antioxidant that is found in Red Wine, the alcohol most commonly associated with antioxidants is called "Resveratrol" which is considered a polyphenol antioxidant (the term refers to the chemical structure) and Phytonutrient (chemical compounds that naturally occur in plants). Studies of resveratrol in mice/rats have shown anti-inflammatory effects, blood sugar lowering effects, and may combat obesity, cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, most of these studies have not been repeated in humans yet.
Resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes used to make wine. The reason red wine is said to be higher in resveratrol than white wine is because red wine is fermented with the skins longer than white wine. But guess what? You can just eat grapes and skip the whole fermenting thing and still get the resveratrol - hellloooooo.....
Peanuts, blueberries and cranberries also have resveratrol. Below are a few charts for comparison.
Content in wines and grape juice
Beverage Total resveratrol (mg/150mL)
Red Wines 0.30 - 1.07
Red grape juice 0.17 - 1.30
Rose Wines 0.06 - 0.53
Pinot Noir 0.06 - 0.30
White Wines 0.01 - 0.27
Rose Wines 0.06 - 0.53
Pinot Noir 0.06 - 0.30
White Wines 0.01 - 0.27
Content in selected foods
Food Serving Total resveratrol (mg)
Peanuts (raw) 1 c 0.01 - 0.26
Peanuts (boiled) 1 c 0.32 - 1.28
Peanut butter 1 c 0.04 - 0.13
Red grapes 1 c 0.24 - 1.25
Peanuts (boiled) 1 c 0.32 - 1.28
Peanut butter 1 c 0.04 - 0.13
Red grapes 1 c 0.24 - 1.25
Besides the antioxidants in wine, the alcohol itself does have effects on the body that can "help" certain things but mostly just temporarily. Alcohol thins the blood and also causes blood sugar levels to drop (more on that in Part Three). Which could look really good to someone who has thickening arterial walls due to plaque buildup or someone with pre-diabetes who runs high blood sugar levels. But those effects happen just while alcohol is in the body, and the negative effects outweigh the positive ones.
The moral of the story is this: if you currently drink alcohol, please do so in moderation or less. "Moderation" is defined as 1 drink per day for females and 2 drinks per day for males. A "drink" is 5oz of wine, 12oz of beer or 1.5oz (shot) of liquor. Now I honestly think that's pushing it towards too much...but those are the defined guidelines. Remember from the last blog post on alcohol that one drink per night can result in 10 lbs of weight gain per year...so "moderation" may not be what you need! In fact, when trying to lose weight, you should not drink alcohol AT ALL. And for those of you that don't drink but were considering picking it up due to the antioxidant value, don't. You can get antioxidants from plenty of other foods, without the toxins from the alcohol.
Next: Alcohol Part Three: "The Freshman Fifteen"
Blessings,
Ashley
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