French wine found best for 'longevity'

Adding more to the previous studies that have poured health benefits of red wine, researchers in the UK have identified a key ingredient in red wines which according to them potentially contributes to heart health and longevity.

The ingredient, called "oligomeric procyanidins", a type of polyphenol, contributes to longevity by protecting against heart disease, Dr. Roger Corder, from Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry in London, and his fellow researchers stated in their study.

Although, all red wines contain heart healthy properties, but scientists say the wines particularly having higher levels of "oligomeric procyanidins" are more potent.

Earlier studies have generally authenticated consumption of a glass or two of red wine every day to combat heart and circulatory disease. Recently, a US study, carried out by the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging, found a substance, called resveratrol, which has damaging effects of a high-fat diet in mice. The study said that the obese mice showed significant results when they consumed ultrahigh doses of red wine extract.

But, the British researchers say that all red wines are not having similar kinds of polyphenols. And, in case of resveratrol, people would have to drink hundreds of glasses a day to enjoy any possible benefits as the substance occurs in relatively low levels in wine.

To investigate which particular polyphenol had the protective effect on heart, the British researchers analyzed various components of red wine. After exposing endothelial cells (cells that line the vascular system) to 165 different wines, the researchers found that substances called procyanidins appeared to have the most potent beneficial effect on the cells that enable arteries to power the heart.

After testing worldwide red wines for measuring their levels of procyanidins, the researchers discovered that levels of procyanidins were highest in red wines produced in Nuoro province in Sardinia and the Gers region of the Midi-Pyrenees in south-west France, the areas where people are famous for their longevity.

The wines from these two regions had remarkably 5 to 10 times more high levels of oligomeric procyanidins, than the wines tested from Australia, SA and the US, scientists said in their research, published in the journal Nature.

"The surprising feature of their wines is they have very high levels of procyanidins and this seems to be due mainly to the grapes growing in that area," said Corder. "This may explain the strong association between consumption of traditional tannic wines with overall wellbeing, reflected in greater longevity," he added.

In the traditional production methods, grapes are fermented for three to four weeks and the compounds known as tannins are efficiently extracted from the skin, stems and seed to give them their typical dry taste, while modern wines are fermented only for seven days thus having practically no procyanidin in them. The key is the length of time the seeds and skin of the grapes are laid in the fermenting juice.

"Modern-style wine will be red and will be alcoholic but it won't have these components. It has to be fermented longer in contact with the pips (seeds)," Corder said.

The further investigation of oligomeric procyanidins-rich wines will provide the thorough understanding of how blood vessel function might be optimally maintained, Corder asserted.