CHOLESTEROL DIET SECRETS

Wine boosts HDL (good) cholesterol, reduces inflammation

Researchers at the University of Barcelona conducted a study to find out why drinking wine could be associated with better health and their findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

A group of 35 healthy women who already drank wine regularly were recruited for the study. Each woman was first put on four weeks of low-fat diet without wine. After that, she is given another four weeks of low-fat diet but with two glasses of red wine daily. This experiment was then repeated with white wine.

The study found that the quantity of HDL (good) cholesterol in the women had increased during the four weeks which they got to drink wine. At the same time, there was a reduction in the amount of inflammatory substances in their blood during the four weeks when they had wine. When the results are combined and analyzed, the researchers found that drinking red wine had greater positive effect than white wine in terms of increasing HDL cholesterol and reducing inflammatory substances.

An increase in HDL cholesterol and a reduction in inflammatory substances in one’s blood have the effect of lowering one’s risk of coronary heart disease. Once again, this study supported the widespread belief that drinking one to two glasses of wine regularly is a healthy habit.

 Toast to your health,

(Courtesy of Cholesterol Diet Secrets)