Doctor's Life Magazine, Tampa Bay Doctor's Life Tampa Bay Vol. 2 Issue 1, 2014 | Page 22

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WiHEALTH BENEFITS OF
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F
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MUSCADINE GRAPES

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By Yolanda Roundtree
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

he next time you sit down for dinner, don’t forget the bottle of wine — Florida that is. Most
Florida wines are made from muscadine grapes — a variety of grapes that contain the highest
level of antioxidants ever tested in a natural product. Muscadine grapes are fat free, high in fiber
and high in antioxidants. The health benefits of wine have been studied for years and research has
indicated that moderate drinking can reduce heart attacks by 50 percent. According to Dr. Serge
Renaud, a French scientist and pioneer in alcohol research “Antioxidants in wine help prevent
damage to blood vessels, help prevent heart disease... as many of 400 other chemicals in wine raise
the level of HDL in blood. HDL is the good cholesterol that helps prevent heart attack and stroke.”
You never thought that having a glass of wine
with dinner had a purpose other than helping to
wash down that last savory bite of chicken, beef
or fish. However, the health benefits of drinking
wine are greater when wine was consumed with
meals instead of consumed by itself, according
to Dr. Mauizio Trevisan from the University
of Buffalo. “Drinking with dinner assures that
the protective effects of alcohol are strongest
in the evening, when fats from the dinner meal
circulate through the bloodstream and carry over
to the next morning, when most heart attacks
take place.”
According to M.D. News Magazine, recent
tests show that resveratrol from muscadine
grapes can block cancer cells from attacking
organs, thus preventing the spread of the
disease once it starts. Programs at the
Strang Cancer Prevention Center in
New York City showed that resveratrol
was very effective as an inhibitor
of the growth of COX, a compound
present in breast cancer and other
cancers. Compounds that inhibit

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COX offer promise as a cancer prevention
agent by making cancer cells vulnerable to the
body’s natural defenses. Initial studies showed
that resveratrol inhibits tumor growth at three
different stages — initiation, promotion and
progression. Growing research also notes that
additional benefits are in the grapes themselves.
“If you don’t drink wine, try some jams or a
muffin made from muscadines,” says Dr. Betty
Ector, nutrition researcher at Mississippi State
University. “They’re an even better source of
resveratrol. One half serving (two fluid ounces)
of unfiltered muscadine juice, one serving of
muscadine jam, one medium muffin, or onetenth serving of muscadine sauce contains about
the same amount of resveratrol as four fluid
ounces of red wine.”
Florida has 16 unique
vineyards throughout the state
that produce wines from a
variety of muscadine grapes
and other Florida agriculture
products.

Doctor’s Life Tampa Bay

Issue 1, 2014