After a study, drinking red wine would improve physical performance. Beaux-Vins deciphers this information between sport and wine…
According to a study published by researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada, drinking a glass of red wine would have as much positive effect on the body as practicing an hour of sport ! This very serious study indeed reveals that red wine contains substances beneficial to the body, that would also be generated during physical activity.
This is what could be read on many late banknotes 2015, but is it really the case ?
The sport and wine study in question
According to this study, a natural compound found in some fruits, nuts and red wine can improve training and performance during exercise. Jason Dyck and his team of scientists have found through laboratory experiments that high doses of the natural compound called resveratrol improve physical performance, heart function and muscle strength in laboratory guinea pigs.
"We were very excited to find that resveratrol was showing results similar to what you would see during heavy endurance training," says Dyck., who works in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry as a researcher in the departments of pediatrics and pharmacology.
"We immediately saw the potential of these results so we identified and envisioned the possibility of turning them into a performance enhancing pill".
Such a discovery would allow people with diabetes and heart failure to maximize the little sport they can do., or even replace it completely.
Sport and wine, the angry question…
The study is no longer very young
We systematically find the same arguments in articles dealing with the subject. The notes referring to this study say that the researchers "analyzed the different elements contained in most red wines". These wines are said to contain a lot of resveratrol, a polyphenol that has extremely positive effects on our health.
Strangely, we find this kind of argument in almost all sources and the technique of plagiarism is often involved - that it's hard to write when you're a journalist or blogger —. The reason for the heavy use of copy and paste is very simple : the study dates from 2012 — it's even more difficult to verify your sources —
Resveratrol works on exercise rats
You've never seen a rat play sports ? Yet the researchers formed two groups of rats, all the little hairy beasts bowed to three months of physical exercise. The first group had resveratrol as a supplement that the other group did not have. Result, the resveratrol group showed improvement in 20 % of its physical performance compared to the second group.
Experience therefore does not show that wine can replace sport, but although it is the combination of exercise and resveratrol that is effective ! In fact, the study bears the title " Resveratrol-Induced Improvement in Muscle Fibers and Heart Function During Exercise Contributes to Better Performance in Rats ".
Resveratrol is not wine
Researchers Didn't Have Fun Giving Rats Red Wine, but a concentrated dose of resveratrol. To be more precise, rats consumed four grams of resveratrol per pound of food given. — researchers did not give 1kg of food at each meal —
Knowing that we find 12 mg of resveratrol per liter of wine, you would need to drink 330 liters of wine to obtain the improvement of 20 % physical performance observed in rats… while practicing sports intensively.
The same goes for the other benefits found on the body of resveratrol. It should be consumed 40 mg per day to see the effects and unfortunately drink 3 liters of wine per day is not good for your health since wine contains sugar and alcohol.
Resveratrol in other products
You will understand that seeking the benefits of resveratrol in wine is not the solution. Other foods contain resveratrol and are less unhealthy, like blackberries or peanuts - the peanuts and red wine aperitif is still not worth an hour of sport —. It is also possible to buy food supplements of resveratrol in concentrated form.
Resveratrol as sport divides researchers
We recently saw in the article " Great britain : red wine called into question "That the British authorities are reviewing the alcohol and public health recommendations. And of course, these recommendations would go against studies that demonstrate the benefits of red wine.
As the study by researchers at the University of Alberta points out - and others —, red wine has beneficial properties for health. This is what the Anglo-Saxons call the "French paradox". Despite a diet high in fat, the French remain little subject to heart problems. Resveratrol, a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, would also prevent certain cancers and act against Alzheimer's disease.
Sport, wine and life expectancy…
But there, a team of American researchers shows that resveratrol is not the miracle compound that one would like to believe. The study called " Resveratrol levels and all-cause mortality in sedentary elderly people living in communities Was conducted by American researchers between 1998 to 2009. They analyzed the medical data of 783 Italians over 65 years in 2 Tuscany villages.
Why Tuscany ? Because this region produces Chianti, a red wine containing a high level of resveratrol. Scientists had fun measuring the level of resveratrol in participants' urine samples - it's nice to be a scientist —. The guinea pigs did not follow any particular diet. The result shows that there is no link between life expectancy and the level of resveratrol concentration in the urine.
Once again, this study should be taken with a grain of salt. According to the professor of biochemistry of Burgundy, Norbert Latruffe, "People with higher concentrations of resveratrol metabolites were also heavier smokers., consumed more alcohol, did more physical exercise ... the results are therefore difficult to interpret ". Moreover, "The effects of these molecules are not spectacular, because they are nutrients and not drugs. For the results to be statistically significant, long studies and on a large population are necessary ".
Despite the results, the researchers put it into perspective by explaining that the benefits of red wine and chocolate on the body must come from other polyphenols contained in these foods. The current trend is to systematically seek health arguments - thank you Mr Marketing - for food products useless to our balance. We should therefore begin to truly consider the food needs pyramid and to consider all other products as pleasure products only.
Maybe these foods are good for our body only because they give us pleasure and are associated with a healthier and more convivial lifestyle. ?
Jean-Nicolas Mouretin
- Sirtfood diet, the wine and chocolate diet !
- The new sporting trend : go to the gym with a glass of wine
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