Grape juice may curb artery clogging

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Oct, 1996

Over the last decade, studies have concluded that moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages lowers the risk of heart disease. Now comes some good news for non-drinkers - at least for those who like lots of grape juice. Research conducted at the University of Wisconsin Medical School indicates that multiple glasses of grape juice may have the same anti-clogging effects that red wine and alcohol do.

According to John D. Folts, professor of medicine and director of the Coronary Artery Thrombosis Research and Prevention Lab at UW Hospital and Clinics, the finding could point to an easy way to protect against heart disease for more people, such as those who choose not to drink or should not because of conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. "It's better if we can find the beneficial substance in alcoholic beverages without drinking because it will be safer for a lot of people. Alcohol abuse is a major problem in this country, and the public perception is always that if two drinks a day is good, then four or five may be better."

The beneficial substances in red wine are thought to be flavonoids, naturally occurring compounds that reduce the "stickiness" of blood-clotting cells called platelets. Flavonoids are in the skins, stems, and seeds of grapes and are removed late in the fermentation for red wine. They also are present to varying degrees in grape juice, beer, and some fresh fruits and vegetables.

To test their theory that flavonoids, rather than alcohol, benefit the heart, the research team studied whether drinking grape juice has the same anti-clogging effects as red wine. They chose purple grape juice, although the beverage is available in white and red. Generally, the darker the beverage, the more flavonoids are present because of longer processing.

Results revealed that it took three times as much grape juice by volume to achieve the same preventive effects as red wine. Red wine also contains three times as many flavonoids as grape juice. Thus, Folts reasons, it is the flavonoids alone, and not the alcohol, that prevent blood from clotting.

In 1974, Folts was the first to demonstrate that aspirin helps guard against heart disease by "turning down" platelet activity. He indicates that it appears flavonoids may be even better protectors against heart disease because, unlike aspirin, their effect isn't decreased or eliminated by stress and other factors which raise adrenaline in the patient. If the flavonoids could be dried and placed in pill form, they would provide a simpler and perhaps more effective way to protect against heart disease, he suggests.