Red Wine Studies Yield Innovative New Heart Disease Treatment
The LSU Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences has developed a new treatment for heart disease using antioxidants from red wine.
Research has indicated that having a glass of red wine could be good for your heart, but with Professor Tammy Dugas’ program, even the sober can get those benefits.
“We take out the equation of alcohol consumption all together, and we try to benefit patients by delivering it locally at the site of a blockage.”
Dugas developed a stent that can be inserted into arteries that releases antioxidants directly into problem areas.
For those looking to get the heart health benefits without a stent, or a buzz, resveratrol and quercetin supplements are available. But, Dugas says you’ll have to chew a lot of tablets to get the same benefits.
“It’s believed that if we just take the polyphenols out and administer as a supplement that you actually have to take quite a bit to get the same benefit you get from a very moderate dose of red wine.”
Dugas says the red wine health studies began when researchers noticed an interesting phenomenon in wine country.
“Residents of certain areas in France were at a lower risk of heart disease despite their diet, and so it was believed that their red wine consumption was a part of the benefit.”
Experts have recommend having two glasses a day to start noticing the heart health benefits.