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Red Wine – The Cancer Solution?

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Could anything be more dreadful then having your doctor give you a diagnosis of cancer? Probably not. Still, who wants to chance it? There must be practical steps that can be taken to prevent it.

Every so often, you will hear various statements that sound interest, but are often wrong. For instance, everyone knows you should not go swimming for an hour after eating. Of course, this rule of thumb is wrong, but there you are.

Every so often, common wisdom turns out to carry more than a grain of truth in it. We all know chicken soup helps with a cold, even if we don’t know why. Could the same be true for other things? Well, it appears a particular wine may have some benefits.

For the longest time, red wine as a preventative drink was ignored. After all, we all know rumors of the benefits of red wine. French people have low incidents of cancer and drink lots of wine, so it must do something. Turns out that it very well does.

Studies are finding some interesting things about red wine. The issue is not so much the wine, but chemical found in it. Plants protect themselves with phytochemcials. Many of these chemicals are proving to be effective in prevention in humans as well.

Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in the skin and seeds of grapes. Since red wine fermentation often involves the skin and seeds of grapes, they polyphenols end up in the final product.

To understand the benefits of polyphenols, you have to understand free radicals. These buggers attack cells and mutate them, which is one way cancer comes about. Polyphenols block free radicals, acting as bodyguards for cells if you will.

Red wine also contains high levels of resveratrol. Resveratrol is an interesting polyphenol. It is used by plants to defend themselves against disease. Resveratrol has been found to significantly inhibit cancerous tumor growth in animals.

It is important to understand all of these findings are preliminary results. While things look good, not enough studies have been conducted or even finished. Nonetheless, the few definitive findings are impressive.

When it comes to cancer and men, problems of the prostate are common. Well, drinking red wine may be the answer. Studies have shown that drinking a glass a day can cut the risk of this aggressive cancer by 50 percent. That is pretty amazing.

Does all this mean that you should rush down to the store and stockpile red wine? It is a bit early to suggest that. Nonetheless, a few glasses a week will not hurt.