Alcohol has
the stigma in today’s society as being the root of ailment. Excessive
consumption is linked with several diseases including cancer, liver failure,
and diabetes, but contrary to popular belief, intake within the standards of
experimental data is proven to be beneficial for the body. Various studies have
shown the beneficial effects of red wine and its role in the prevention of
heart disease. Doctors recommend one glass of red wine a day as a means to
lower the risk of heart attack and failure.
A recent study done by
Dr. Michael Collins et. al shows that there may be a link between low levels of
alcohol consumption and its protective role on the brain preventing the
degeneration of brain matter. Their work focused on the β-amyloid peptide prevalent
in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease, which is caused by the degradation of
brain matter. With the regular intake of alcohol in a process called moderate
ethanol preconditioning results showed that it was beneficial in infant rats to
expose the brain to certain levels of alcohol, but this is not the only
potential that alcohol has as a constructive part of human diet.
In a recent study done by the
medical school of Navarra showed that those who drank red wine were also less
prone to suffering from depression. The pathophysiological pathways of
cardiovascular disease and unipolar depression have been seen as similar, and
as such, preconditioning effects mimic those seen for the brain and the Collins
preconditioning model. In the results from the Navarra study, those who
consumed 5-15 g/day showed a significantly less risk of developing depression.
In future studies, the correlation between the chemical contribution of diet
and its effect on the behavioral pathways of the body can be.
Original Study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3765610/
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