Scientific Studies: Polyphenols and Cardiovascular Disease
In the early 90s Dr. S. Renaud and Dr. Michel de Lorgeril identified the positive link between red wine and cardiovascular disease. Their discoveries were published in 1992 in the renowned journal The Lancet.
Innumerable scientific studies have followed regarding the association between red wine polyphenols and heart disease. Prof. Dr. Jean Claude Stoclet and Dr. Thierry Chaitaigneau showed , among other things, that polyphenols help maintain endothelial health. (2004: European Journal of Pharmacology: Vascular protection by dietary polyphenols).
In a similar double-blind study at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam and the University Medical Center UMC in Utrecht, patients between 20 and 40 years with symptoms of atherosclerosis showed that intake of 500 mg of polyphenols for four weeks, led to a sharp drop in inflammation bio-markers, with recovery of the integrity of the endothelium. (2011: British Journal of Nutrition: Reduction of MCP-1 and MIF by a polyphenol-rich extract in subjects with clustered cardiometabolic risk factors).
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization states: “An unhealthy diet is one of the major risk factors for a range of chronic diseases, diseases-including cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes and other conditions linked to obesity. Specific recommendations for a healthy diet include: eating more fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains ”
The average person’s daily diet likely does not contain enough fresh fruits and vegetables. And we are definitely not eating enough red fruit and grapes, which are so important for heart and vessels due to their abundance of polyphenols, as was demonstrated in the above studies.