The Best Drink for Your Heart

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The Best Drink for Your Heart

If you want to be good to your heart and possibly live a lot longer, drink

grape juice.

 

Reuters reports that research from the Universite Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg

in France concludes that Concord grape juice has the same protective effect

against heart disease as red wine. " Grape juice can have a similar effect

(against heart disease) as red wine but without the alcohol. That is a very

important message, " said lead study author Dr. Valerie Schini-Kerth.

 

Certain types of grape juice and red wine are packed with high levels of

polyphenols, which have been shown to block the production of a protein that is

linked to cardiovascular disease, reports Reuters.

 

When endothelial cells--these are the cells that make up blood vessels--stop

working as they should, heart and vascular problems develop. The French

scientists discovered that the polyphenols in Concord grape juice activate the

endothelial cells so they produce nitric oxide. That in turn helps protect the

heart from cardiovascular disease and helps maintain healthy blood vessels and

blood pressure.

 

Here's the catch: If you're going to drink grape juice for your heart, make

sure it's Concord grape juice. Other types of grape juice, which don't have the

same high levels of polyphenols and are processed differently, don't have the

heart-healthy punch of Concord grape juice.

 

The study, which was partly funded by Welch Foods Inc., is reported in the

journal Cardiovascular Research, 2007.

 

--From the Editors at Netscape.