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Study: White Wine As Heart-Healthy As Red

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 August 2006, 15:01 CDT

University of Connecticut and University of Milan scientists say they have evidence that white wine may be as heart healthy as red.

Study leader Dipak K. Das, of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, says that the pulp of grapes appears just as heart-healthy in laboratory experiments as the skin.

Past studies have shown that the cardioprotective compounds in grapes -- polyphenolic antioxidants -- reside in the skin and seeds. Grape skins, which contain purple pigment, are crushed with the pulp to make red wines.

But skins are separated from pulp to make most white wine, leading to the conventional belief that red wines and red grape juice are the most heart healthy.

Although further study is needed to identify the principle ingredients responsible for the cardioprotective abilities of the grape flesh, to the best of our knowledge, our study provides evidence for the first time that the flesh of grapes is equally cardioprotective with respect to the skins, the researchers report in the Aug. 23 issue of the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.

Source: United Press International

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