Wine has long been tested by health experts and researchers to find its benefits to human health. Some recent studies have claim that moderate consumption of wine can be beneficial for human health.
The major health benefits of wine include fighting cavities, maintain proper brain and heart health and reduce rapid ageing process.
A team of researchers in Spain have found 11 strains of bacteria in wine which include Lactobacillus (found in yogurt) and Gonococcus and Pediococcus that are termed as good bacteria or probiotics. These bacteria in wine can be beneficial for people’s health.
Probiotics are live organisms present in food products that can bring health benefits when consumed rightly in the right amount. These probiotics may be beneficial primarily for maintaining a healthy group of gut bacteria. This bacterium also has anti-cancer properties and properties to lower cholesterol.
Health benefits of wine
- The researchers examined that the bacteria that were isolated from wine could survive in conditions that were similar to the condition found in the human gastrointestinal system only then it could have an impact on human health. This bacteria from wine could also survive in enzymes present in gastric juice, bile and lysozyme that can damage bacterial cell walls
- It was also investigated how the bacteria in wine could stick to the walls of the intestines of a person. This could provide exclusion of pathogens that are harmful bacteria from the intestines. One strain of bacteria found in wine has the ability to the intestinal walls and destroy E coli.
- So far it was known that the best foods that deliver probiotics are dairy fermented milk, curd, foods of plant origin like fruits, olives cereals meat, fish. And dry sausages. Recent studies on wine related non-dairy probiotics show that wine has the same lactic-acid bacteria.
- Scientists say that a moderate consumption of wine like two glasses per day can be beneficial to health. It is not a substitute to curd as it does not provide the same benefits. Probiotics could be isolated from wine to be commercialized as probiotics, or added to functional foods.
- It is also found that wine does not provide a sufficient amount of probiotics to be beneficial, because the bacteria are eliminated during the sulfating process. Sulfating is the process of adding sulfites, used as preservatives commonly used in wine making.
- Polyphenols are helpful plant-based compounds that are found in wine and in a variety of foods and beverages like coffee, tea, chocolate, and some nuts. Red grapes and many other fruits and vegetables are rich sources of polyphenols. This compound in wine has positive effects on intestinal bacteria and help to promote the growth of good gut bacteria.
Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/09/26/bacteria-in-wine-may-bring-health-benefits/
