About Wine And Its Antiviral Properties

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Due to the extreme situation in which the world finds itself, more and more people are looking for all sorts of ways to prevent the new coronavirus. There are few medications that have been shown to work for him, but nothing prevents us at home from trying to increase our body's strength with foods and beverages that have been shown to have such an effect on other viral infections.

And if you are among the people who have increased wine consumption or because of the quarantine you more often manage to find time for a drink on the terrace with your loved one, the good news is that this drink has proven antiviral properties!

It has been clear for years that red wine has beneficial properties for the whole organism. The evidence comes from the fact that the French suffer from cardiovascular disease much less often than the Americans. It is believed that the reason is precisely the widespread use of this drink in France and throughout Europe. What's more, some scientists go further and claim that consuming 2 glasses of wine a day can reduce the risk of viral diseases.

The main "culprit" for these "side" effects of wine are considered antioxidants that are contained in it in huge quantities!

Among them are the so-called tannins, which are an essential part of red wine and thanks to which the specific taste it has is due. They are believed to strengthen our blood vessels and make them more elastic. Moreover, a link is found between the tannins themselves and life expectancy.

Another major part of the antioxidant compounds in wine are the so-called flavonoids. They are one of the strongest natural antioxidants that protect our cells from free radicals and oxidative stress. This prolongs their life, which automatically slows down aging and strengthens the immunity of our whole body.

This means that automatically our whole body is more protected from viral infections, and scientists already have speculations that this may be true for COVID-19 - a disease of the coronavirus family, with different strains of which our humanity has repeatedly encountered. before. These natural antioxidants are also believed to serve as a prevention of malignant cell division, which can lead to various cancers.

There are different types of flavonoids. One of them is quertecin, which has been studied in the replication of various viruses. Scientists have found that this antioxidant may be able to slow down the growth of viruses, which blocks the spread and damage they cause to the body. The flavonoid we have all heard of is the so-called resveratrol, which even finds a place in the cosmetics industry.

It prolongs the life of cells and fights directly against the damage caused by various external factors. Resveratrol reduces inflammation throughout the body and improves its immune response, in addition, it has been shown to reduce the levels of bad cholesterol in our body, which accumulates on the walls of our blood vessels in the form of plaque, which at some point in our lives can lead to thrombosis.

This antioxidant has also been found to reduce the proliferation of coronavirus viruses in laboratory studies, in particular the so-called MERS-CoV, which caused another epidemic, albeit on a smaller scale.

Scientists have also shown that this antioxidant reduces the effects of viruses by observing other infections, including toxoplasmosis, Helicobacter pylori and various types of staphylococci, as well as Epstein-Barr virus, enteroviruses, including various respiratory infections.

The main conclusion of the scientists is that resveratrol reduces the cell death that MERS-CoV infection causes. Previous studies have also shown a wide range of different antiviral properties. It also reduces inflammation, and reduces the so-called viral load in the body.

All of these data suggest to scientists that not so much wine as concentrated amounts of antioxidants in it can have a beneficial effect on the development of some respiratory infections, including those of the new COVID-19 family. The data in humans are rather small, but the conclusions were reached in the laboratory and in studies on rodents.

We remind you that you must drink wine and any other alcohol responsibly, because despite the beneficial properties, excessive amounts can damage the liver. It is generally believed that no more than a glass of wine a day is beneficial.

And if you are not a fan of alcohol, but want to enjoy the beneficial antioxidant properties of flavinoids, you can consume raisins, grapes, chocolate, blackberries.