Drink that helps weight loss

The latest research conducted on an Oregon State University university will surely delight all lovers of good red wine …

An OSU study found that a specific type of red wine slowed the growth of fat cells and formation of new fat cells in the liver. The finding suggests that consuming red wine grapes (either raw, as juice or wine) could help people manage health problems related to obesity, such as fatty liver.

One type of wine grape is known to contain weight loss helping ellagic acid. Red Muscadine (aka “Scuppernong”) is a wine grape native to southeastern US and grows primarily in Georgia.

How can we get ellagic acid in our diet?

Since there is a lot of hype floating around about this story, we’ve compiled some additional factual points you’ll want to know.

• Ellagic acid isn’t found in other V. vinifera wine grapes (e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec etc)
• Ellagic acid is found in oak-aged wines (any type) as ellagitannin.
• Ellagitannin increases with each year of oak aging
• Fermentation increases ellagic acid levels in Scuppernong/Muscadine grape juice
• Ellagic acid is also found in raspberries, blackberries, green tea, oolong tea, walnuts and pecans
• Ellagic acid prevents the development of cancer cells with 40 mg one cup of raspberries a day (we estimate this to be about one glass of 2 yr new oak aged wine)

Conclusions

If you already enjoy one glass of oaked red wine a night, you can delight in knowing that you might not be making poor health choices. However, even though this special acid has incredible health benefits, it hasn’t been determined whether or not the alcohol in wine negates the benefits. If you have a serious health condition, you might want to avoid alcohol altogether and pick one of the alternatives mentioned above.