HealingDeva.com

[Terri R.]

Yes it does, BUT . . . you have to limit your number of drinks to one or two per day, which can significantly increase HDL levels. Any more than that can lead to substantial health problems including heart failure. And then there are those who will develop health problems even when limiting their alcohol intake.

In the January 9, 2003 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers reported a study about the effects of alcohol and heart disease. In this study, over 38,000 healthy MEN (most health studies are done on men) were followed for 12 years. The researchers found that men who consumed alcohol at least three to four days per week had a significantly reduced risk of myocardial infarction. This risk reduction was present even if small amounts of alcohol were consumed (the equivalent of a half glass of wine), as long as the frequency of consumption was 3 - 4 days per week. Drinking larger amounts of alcohol did not improve the risk reduction, and the type of alcohol consumed (i.e., wine, beer, whiskey) did not make any difference.

What I did was skip the wine (I do not like wine) and used grape seed extract. Grape seed extract is a natural plant substance that has a concentrated source of oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC), which is found in red wine. Besides, grape seed extract has more health benefits:

• Grape seed extract is one of the most powerful antioxidants that fights free radicals

• Grape seed extract is 20 times more potent than Vitamin C and 50 times stronger than Vitamin E

• Grape seed extract helps improve cardiovascular health

• It also helps promote brain, skin and eye health

• Grape seed extract is also anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory

• Grape seed extract is one of the few antioxidants that can penetrate the blood brain barrier to help protect the brain and nerve tissue

• Some studies have also shown grape seed extract to prevent the formation of plaque in the arteries

• It can also improve mental alertness and help prevent senility

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OPC Grape Seed Extract References / Additional Resources

Jerome L. Fleg, MD; Hidetaka Hougaku, M.D.; Edward G. Lakatta, M.D.; Mary K. Kemper; Christopher J. Earley, M.D.; and E. Jeffrey Metter, M.D. American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2001.
Pizzorno, Joseph, ND; Murray, Michael T, Eds. Textbook of Natural Medicine, second ed. Churchill Livingstone, 1999.
Wang, Z., Y. Huang, J. Zou, K. Cao, Y. Xu and J. M. Wu (2002). "Effects of red wine and wine polyphenol resveratrol on platelet aggregation in vivo and in vitro." Int J Mol Med 9(1): 77-79.


Double-Blind Trials

Abu-Amsha Caccetta, R., V. Burke, T. A. Mori, L. J. Beilin, I. B. Puddey and K. D. Croft (2001). "Red wine polyphenols, in the absence of alcohol, reduce lipid peroxidative stress in smoking subjects." Free Radic Biol Med 30(6): 636-42.
Clifford, A. J., S. E. Ebeler, J. D. Ebeler, N. D. Bills, S. H. Hinrichs, P. L. Teissedre and A. L. Waterhouse (1996). "Delayed tumor onset in transgenic mice fed an amino acid-based diet supplemented with red wine solids." Am J Clin Nutr 64(5): 748-56.
de Vries, J. H., P. C. Hollman, I. van Amersfoort, M. R. Olthof and M. B. Katan (2001). "Red wine is a poor source of bioavailable flavonols in men." J Nutr 131(3): 745-8.
Senault, C., D. Betoulle, G. Luc, P. Hauw, D. Rigaud and F. Fumeron (2000). "Beneficial effects of a moderate consumption of red wine on cellular cholesterol efflux in young men." Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 10(2): 63-9.
Takkouche, B., C. Regueira-Mendez, R. Garcia-Closas, A. Figueiras, J. J. Gestal-Otero and M. A. Hernan (2002). "Intake of wine, beer, and spirits and the risk of clinical common cold." Am J Epidemiol 155(9): 853-8.


Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trials

Nuttall, S. L., M. J. Kendall, E. Bombardelli and P. Morazzoni (1998). "An evaluation of the antioxidant activity of a standardized grape seed extract, Leucoselect." J Clin Pharm Ther 23(5): 385-9.
Preuss, H. G., D. Wallerstedt, N. Talpur, S. O. Tutuncuoglu, B. Echard, A. Myers, M. Bui and D. Bagchi (2000). "Effects of niacin-bound chromium and grape seed proanthocyanidin extract on the lipid profile of hypercholesterolemic subjects: a pilot study." J Med 31(5-6): 227-46.

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<<you have to limit your number of drinks to one or two per day, which can significantly increase HDL levels>>

Raise your good cholesterol and kill the liver....lol!!! Okay thanks for that info. My father is an alcoholic and I was just curious as to how that was affecting his cholesterol numbers.

[Terri R.]

>> Raise your good cholesterol and kill the liver

Only if you drink to excess... and some people do go way beyond the 1 or 2 glasses of wine each day.

[Bobin]

Katie was sure of her cholesterol plan
She ate sausage biscuits, hot dogs and some ham.
Who care if your cholesterol is real high or so low,
Eat what you want, and never say no.
Forget drugs her doctor said, you'll just go insane,
Cholesterol drugs give you nothing to gain.
When drugs performed in a head to head test,
Exercise, diet and rest was the best.
...

[Terri R.]

poetic license???