is grape juice as good as red wine?
 

I've seen confilicting opinion as to whether red grape juice as as "good" for you as red wine. I use the inverted commas as both seem to have drawbacks. Basically because red wine is alcohol it increases your risk of certain cancers (that seems the main drawback), but is chock full of free radicals, whereas grape juice seems less good on the free radicals (depending on who you read), and is high in sugers, but is not alcoholic, and therefore better for you in that respect.


Anyone got an opinion?

Fresh grapes?

Free radicals are a good thing? I think you are confused. Most carcinogens are thought to act via being or producing free radicals. The free radicals trigger errors in DNA transcription which is thought to result in cancer.

Antioxidants are thought by some to decrease free radical production and giving protection from cancer. Of course, the lab results of heroic consumption of antioxidants are mixed.

Grape juice is very high in calories and high in simple sugars. Those would be bad things. Red wine, at very moderate levels, is thought to have a slight health benefit. I might add that the emphasis here is slight. Alcoholism has a decidedly major adverse health risk. Some people can consume alcohol at low levels and some can't but nearly everyone thinks that they can "handle it".

You may be thinking of resveratrol, which was much in the media about a year ago:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resveratrol

It's in the skins, so same with juice and wine. IIRC, to get an amount equivalent to what was studied, you'd have to drink something like 20,000 bottles of wine a day.

Personally, when I drink wine every day, I get fat. No other effect noticed. But if you want to drink red grape juice every day with your lunch, probably just fine. An 8 oz. glass counts as two servings of fruit.

I would stick away from everything until you do more objective research.

Tiny bit of fact: Free radicals are bad

My opinion based on fact I have read or told:

• Excessive simple sugars are bad
• Excessive alcohol (greater than 1oz of ethanol) per day is bad
• Alcohol in moderation can be good for your heart (less than 1oz of ethanol per day)
• Wine may not provide any health benefits compared to beer or similar alcoholic products
• Wine may have some good "phytochemicals", but not in very beneficial amounts if you drink in moderation
• There is some thought that alcohol in any amount can cause cancer. This is due to your liver breaking ethanol down into acetaldehyde, which is a probable carcinogen. However acetaldeyde is also found coffee, fresh bread, car exhaust, ripe fruit, and yogurt, among many other things.

Wait -- which is your opinion?

Sorry, didn't mean free radicals, meant anti oxidents.

I didn't mean it to be confusing. Both statements can be true/compatible.

Heart disease is not equal to cancer.


"Alcohol in moderation can be good for your heart"
There are a lot of studies that suggest moderate alcohol consumption can lower the risk for coronary heart disease. Though, it can also increase blood pressure which is why the key is moderation.

"There is some thought that alcohol in any amount can cause cancer"
The liver metabolizes ethanol into acetaldeyde. Acetaldehyde is a probable carcinogen, a cancer-causing agent. So technically, even in moderation, consuming alcohol can introduce carcinogens into your body (with carcinogens possibly leading to cancer). The last part of that statement in my previous post suggests that the same carcinogen is more-or-less present in our everyday activities/food anyway.... but I suppose that doesn't make it good.

Regarding the topic...

I just did some google research about resveratrol . It sounds like the jury may still be out on its positive effects. However, if you really want to supplement your health with some good stuff, try blueberries.

Lots of recent studies suggest that the "red wine is good for you" studies are flawed or misleading.

http://www.quackwatch.com/01Quackery...sveratrol.html

Ethanol metabolism goes like this:
Ethanol --> Acetyldehyde --> Acetic acid (vinegar)
(reaction accelerated by the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme, except in many asian populations which are AD-deficient)

This is why bottles of wine which have been opened and left for days smell like vinegar... they ARE vinegar. Vinegar is only potentially harmful in the chemistry lab where it can be found in much higher concentrations than in nature.

I wouldn't worry about alcohol causing cancer. Excessive consumption of it over long periods of time can cause liver cirrhosis, however, which is every bit as dangerous.

Breast cancer risk is enough of a worry that I try and limit myself to one or less per day.

I like Grape Juice or better Black Cherry juice diluted 50% with water, just to cut the sugar.

The TAC (Total Antioxidant Content) of whole fruit is far superior to any juice, even the so called super juices Goji, Noni and Acai. Save your money and eat an apple or orange. The resveratrol thing is turning out to be hype as well. You'd never be able to consume enough red wine to get benefit (if there is any) and resveratrol supplements have inconsistent and fraudulent doses and are unproven (ConsumerLab). Again, eat whole grapes and if you want maximum antioxidants go with blueberries, rasberries and strawberries.

I did not know that. I just read coffee is higher than fruit, Men's health this month's issue.

I know Black Cherry is good for all types of inflamation due to high levels of anthocyanins.

Red wine is a particularly rich source of antioxidants flavonoid phenolics, so many studies to uncover a cause for red wine's effects have focused on its phenolic constituents, particularly resveratrol and the flavonoids. Resveratrol, found in grape skins and seeds, increases HDL cholesterol and prevent blood clotting. Flavonoids, on the other hand, exhibit antioxidant properties helping prevent blood clots and plaques formation in arteries.

I have always assumed that a wide variety of types of antioxidants is as important as overall amount to get the full complement.