Please don’t divulge to anyone what I’m about to tell you: I haven’t had a glass of merlot since September of 2004. That was when my wife and I saw the neat comedy, Sideways. If you saw it, you will remember that the star, Paul Giamatti, playing a nerdy wine maven, literally turned his nose up at this variety. True, I had grown a bit tired of the smooth, serviceable red wine, but it was the movie that pushed me over the edge. To those of you who do enjoy a nice glass of merlot, I apologize. There’s really nothing wrong with it. I just get tired of things sometimes. One day, for example, I decided it was too much trouble to use the nutcracker to open those walnuts and pecans and hazelnuts you see in the stores every fall, and have never picked up the implement again.
Despite my merlot reaction, I still am firmly on the side of those people who prefer red wine to white, however. I find the flavor much fuller than with white, though a good sauvignon blanc can be refreshing from time-to-time. And my preference for the red got another boost this week when I read that a study has found that there may well be a very surprising benefit from drinking reds, in moderation, of course.
It seems scientists have discovered, in the midst of ongoing concerns about radiation exposure from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, that a substance similar to resveratrol — an antioxidant found in red wine, grapes and nuts — could protect against radiation sickness. No kidding. The report appears in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
Michael Epperly, Kazunori Koide and colleagues explain that radiation exposure, either from accidents (like recent events in Japan) or from radiation therapy for cancer, can make people sick. High doses can even cause death. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently evaluating a drug for its ability to protect against radiation sickness, but it is difficult to make in large amounts, and the drug has side-effects that prevent its use for cancer patients. To overcome these disadvantages, the researchers studied whether resveratrol — a natural and healthful antioxidant in many foods — could protect against radiation injuries.
They found that resveratrol protected cells in flasks but did not protect mice (stand-ins for humans in the laboratory) from radiation damage. However, the similar natural product called acetyl resveratrol did protect the irradiated mice. It also can be produced easily in large quantities and given orally. The authors caution that it has not yet been determined whether acetyl resveratrol is effective when orally administered.
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