As if you needed another reason to kick back with a glass of vino, the science heavens have opened up and dropped another one into our laps: Red wine helps increase fat burn.
A new study conducted at the University of Florida and University of Nebraska and published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry exposed lab-grown human liver and fat cells to a few different chemicals found in dark-red Muscadine grapes, and found that one — ellagic acid — dramatically slowed fat cell growth and prevented new ones from forming. It also boosted the metabolism (i.e. burning) of fatty acids in liver cells.
Now, this doesn’t mean a bottle of Cabernet is a magic weight loss elixir (although we can still dream, can’t we?). But for those who are overweight and have metabolic disorders like fatty liver disease, moderate consumption of red wine may be an easy (and of course, enjoyable) supplement to improve liver function. For the nondrinkers out there, red grape juice with this compound has the same positive effects.
One of the study’s researchers, Neil Shay, a biochemist and food researcher at at Oregon State University, has done similar research in his own lab, feeding normal and overweight mice an extract from Pinot Noir (classy mice!), and coming up with the same results.
We already considered red wine a special type of medicine, so it’s good to know research backs that up. Cheers!
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