A Bit 'o the Grape - Some Prevention Advice from Dr. Mike Roizen
Tis the season -- and I have a tip for you that's worth sharing because, beyond the fact that it's health and good-patient related, well, it's just so darn festive!
As Hubby and I drove the 75 mile (which took two hours due to the very wintery weather) trip to my sister's house for an early Christmas, we turned on the radio to find Dr. Mike Roizen's radio show.
(I'll throw in this good word that Dr. Mike is a friend of mine from my very early patient empowerment days, and you and I both know that he and Dr. Mehmet Oz are now the kings of prevention advice....)
One of the conversations during the show was about resveratrol. Resveratrol is the substance in the skin of red grapes that scientists believe is good for our cardiovascular health. Dr. Mike's guest, Dr. Joseph Maroon, neuroscientist and author of The Longevity Factor, focused much of his talk on resveratrol, and I learned that really -- we just can't seem to get enough of it. (As in, it's impossible to consume 180 bottles of wine in one day?) But more is definitely better, and one cup each day of grapes, red ones in particular, can have very positive effects on our bodies, including helping control our weight.
I promised you festive -- so here it is. A great idea from Dr. Mike -- why not freeze grapes, and drop them into our cold drinks? Wash them, pull them off the stems, put them in a container in the freezer, and when you're ready for an ice cube? Or if you just want your wine to stay cold without adding ice (which might dilute it) -- drop in some grapes!
So -- Happy Holidays to you from Dr. Mike Roizen and me. Find more tips in You, Staying Young.... and know you're doing both your taste buds AND your heart and arteries a big favor.
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Comments
Wow, what a fantastically festive idea! I never would have thought of that. I will keep it in mind when I go to parties this season. I wonder if any other fruits would suffice, like pineapple chunks, to put in our holiday drinks?
Festive and healthy…who could ask for anything more during the holidays. It takes away some of the guilt and if we share this information we look like we’re really on top of things.
That’s not all resveratrol may be good for. Studies have shown the Resveratrol can inhibit cancer initiation, promotion, and progression. Cancer researchers recognize that hundreds if not thousands of genes must be down-regulated to conquer cancer (i.e. at least 74 genes must be controlled in renal cancer). So all the promiscuous gene inhibitors must be found. Resveratrol favorably switches many genes.
Resveratrol is a type of polyphenol (phytoalexin). It is produced in a plant in response to an invading fungus, stress, injury, infection or ultraviolet irradation. Red wine contains high levels of resveratrol, as do grapes, raspberries, peanuts and other plants.
Resveratrol has been shown to reduce tumor incidence in animals by affecting one or more stages of cancer development. It has been shown to inhibit growth of many types of cancer cells in culture. Evidence also exists that it can reduce inflammation. It reduces activation of NF kappa B, a protein produced by the body’s immune system when it is under attack. This protein affects cancer cell growth and metastasis. Resveratrol is also an antioxidant.
While many of the new gene-targeted drugs do not target enough genes, it appears that Resveratrol can target all genes involved in cancer. It is possible that it also chemosensitizes tumor cells, all the genes within the cell, a potentiator of chemotherapy drugs.
Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds found in the skin and seeds of grapes. Red wine contains more polyphenols than white wine because the making of white wine requires the removal of the skins after the grapes are crushed. When wine is made from grapes, the alcohol produced by the fermentation process dissolves the polyphenols contained in the skin and seeds.
What makes this most interesting in cancer is the anti-angiogenic enhancer and potentiator effect of the alcohol in red wine. The alcohol reduces the angiogenic secretions by the tumor cells. If it does that, it could both reduce these secretions and make an anti-angiogenesis drug less resistant to the tumor cells, making it more effective.
In the presence of an anti-angiogenesis drug, you can have a lethel 1-2 combination which knocks out the new blood vessels which are dependent for survival of the cancer. Polyphenols extracted from red wine could be converted into a pill that is highly likely to be safe, relatively easy and inexpensive to create, and deliver.
The use of a polyphenol (Resveratrol) presents important advantages because of its good safety profile, low cost and can be obtained everywhere on the planet.
Cancer Biol Ther. 2004 Sep;3(9):889-90
J Intern Med 2008; 264: 275-287
BMC Urol. 2004 Jun 22;4:9
Epub 2004 Sep 24
PMID: 15467424