Skip to main content

Is alcohol good for the brain?

77. Continuing our line of thought on wine and the brain, we turn to the question of alcohol's effects. Haven't we always assumed that alcohol kills brain cells, and so any positive aspects of drinking must be weighed against this? True, at high doses alcohol (as with anything for that matter) is toxic, but a recent review from Loyola University pointed to experimental evidence that moderate alcohol levels exert direct "neuroprotective" actions; that is, in addition to promoting healthy blood vessels that improve blood flow to the brain, the direct effects of alcohol on nerve cells are protective, at least in moderate amounts.
Add this to the list of healthy effects of alcohol in moderation where cardiovascular disease is concerned, and keep it in mind the next time you see an ad for some supplement touting "all the benefits of wine without the alcohol" because that is of course not possible.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revisiting resveratrol: new findings rekindle anti-aging debate

Just when we thought the bloom was off the rosé for resveratrol, the anti-oxidant polyphenol from red wine with multiple anti-aging properties, along comes new research giving life to the debate. But first a bit of background: As I detailed in my book Age Gets Better with Wine , it is well-documented that wine drinkers live longer and have lower rates of many diseases of aging. Much or the credit for this has been given to resveratrol, though there isn’t nearly enough of it in wine to explain the effects. Nevertheless, I dubbed it the “miracle molecule” and when it was reported to activate a unique life-extension phenomenon via a genetic trigger called SIRT, an industry was born, led by Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, quickly acquired by pharma giant Glaxo. The hope was that resveratrol science could lead to compounds enabling people to live up to 150 years and with a good quality of life. But alas, researchers from other labs could not duplicate the results, and clinical studies disa...
7 comments
Read more

Which types of wine are the healthiest?

I am often asked after lecturing on the healthful properties of wine which type is best to drink. Since much of the discussion has to do with the polyphenol antioxidants from the skins and seeds of the grape, red wine is the first criterion since it is fermented with the whole grape rather than the pressed juice. This allows for extraction and concentration of these compounds, familiar ones being resveratrol and tannins. But beyond that, which varietals have the highest concentrations? According to the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder, “The best kind of wine is that which is pleasant to him that drinks it” but modern science expects more specifics. (The point of course is that if you have a wine that you enjoy you are more likely to drink regularly and therefore reap the benefits.) But there are several difficulties in singling out certain wines for their healthful properties. Which compounds to measure? Are we talking about heart health or the whole gamut? Is it the varietal of th...
2 comments
Read more