Most scientists who study the physiological effects of alcoholic beverages have assumed that wine, like beer or distilled spirits, is a drink whose only active ingredient is alcohol. Because of this assumption, these scientists have rarely investigated the effects of wine as distinct from other forms of alcoholic beverages. Nevertheless, unlike other spirits but also study only the excessive or abusive intake of these beverages—have obscured.
Recently, a small group of researchers has questioned this assumption and investigated the effects of moderate wine consumption. While alcohol has been shown conclusively to have negative physiological effects—for example, alcohol strongly affects the body’s processing of lipids (fats and other substances including cholesterol), causing dangerous increases in the levels of these identical results whether the wine was white or red. What could explain such apparently healthful effects?
For one thing, the studies show increased activity of a natural clot-breaking compound used by doctors to restore blood flow through blocked vessels in victims of heart disease. In addition, the studies of wine drinkers indicate increased levels of certain compounds that may help to prevent damage from high lipid levels. And the concentration of certain natural compounds found in grapes and not present in other alcoholic beverages.
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