Red wine has been used for its therapeutic properties for ages. Red, white, or rosé wines made from muscadine grapes are known to contain a significant amount of an antioxidant known as polyphenols.

A tiny amount of de-alcoholized wine prepared from muscadine grapes per day, according to University of Florida researchers, can help rejuvenate ageing skin.

Researchers have been debating the potential health advantages of wine, particularly red wine, for a long time. Since wine has been used medicinally for so long, some people think it may have been the earliest known “medicine.”

According to earlier research, drinking red wine may help to prevent heart disease, chronic inflammation, and cognitive deterioration. Additionally, additional studies indicate that consuming red wine may lengthen life and boost the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiome.

Recent research from the University of Florida demonstrated how dealcoholized wine derived from muscadine grapes can help to improve ageing skin at NUTRITION 2023, the American Society for Nutrition’s premier annual meeting.

Skin that is more elastic and loses less water

Dr. Lindsey Christman, graduate research assistant in the University of Florida’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, and her group gathered 17 women between the ages of 40 and 67 for this study. They were given the option of drinking either a wine that had been decaffeinated or a placebo that had no polyphenols.

Over the course of six weeks, study participants drank around two glasses of the given drink each day. After a three-week hiatus, individuals resumed drinking the beverage they had been abstaining from throughout the first six weeks of the study.

Each participant’s skin conditions and indicators of oxidative stress and inflammation were assessed at the start of the trial and at the conclusion of each six-week period.

Analysis revealed that participants’ skin elasticity had been greatly enhanced by consuming the de-alcoholized muscadine wine.

Dr. Christman, a co-author of this study, stated, “We were hoping that it would improve elasticity.” In dealcoholized muscadine wine, polyphenols such ellagic acid, anthocyanins, quercetin, and myricetin may lessen UVB-induced protease activation. These proteases are in charge of the elasticity loss and sagging that come along with ageing.”

Additionally, the wine was linked to a reduction in water loss from the skin’s surface, suggesting that the skin’s protective barrier was more effective.

The amount of participants’ skin wrinkles did not significantly alter throughout the trial, according to the researchers.

Furthermore, there was no discernible change in these variables between the dealcoholized wine and the placebo drink, despite the fact that there were some improvements in skin smoothness and reduced indications of inflammation and oxidative stress compared to baseline.

What makes muscadine grapes unique?

The grape species known as the muscadine grape (Muscadinia rotundifolia) is indigenous to the Southeast of the United States. They grow well in warm, humid areas, unlike other grape varietals.

Typically, these grapes are a deep purple or black colour. Red, rosé, or white wines can be made from the juice.

Polyphenols, a type of antioxidant generally found in plants, are known to be present in significant amounts in muscadine grapes.

Comparing the muscadine grape to other red wine types, researchers discovered that it has a distinctive polyphenolic profile. As a result, the biological activity may differ from that of other red wines, according to Dr. Christman.

Pre-clinical research employing cells from triple-negative breast cancer and prostate cancer has already investigated the impact of muscadine grapes on specific cancers.

Additionally, dealcoholized muscadine wine may be able to lessen the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, according to a mouse study that was published in June 2021.

Why is grape juice preferred over decaffeinated wine?

Wouldn’t muscadine grapes provide the same advantages given that they can also be used to manufacture alcoholic wine and grape juice? Not always, according to Dr. Christman.

These findings cannot be applied to wine that contains alcohol since alcohol introduces a new variable and could change the findings, she said. The procedure of decoholization may also have changed the wine’s overall chemical composition. Because of this, the findings also cannot be applied to juice.

However, Dr. Christman noted that the research “does suggest that muscadine wine polyphenols have the potential to improve skin conditions, so there may be a chance of the same results.”

“However, a future study would need to be done with these products in order to confirm,” she continued.

An excellent source of antioxidants is muscadine grapes.

Dr. Alexis Livingston Young, a dermatologist of the Hackensack University Medical Centre, was also consulted by experts regarding this study.

The findings of the study, according to Dr. Young, were not unexpected given what we already know about the health advantages of consuming muscadine grapes.

She explained, “Muscadine wine is a good source of resveratrol, which is a potent antioxidant.”

“Muscadine grapes have some of the greatest antioxidant levels of any fruit, and they contain more of this chemical than other varieties of grape. Antioxidants are known to help the body produce fewer free radicals,” she continued.

“Free radicals are associated with several chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and aging-related cell and tissue damage. Therefore, the research demonstrated that the antioxidants in these grapes may definitely encourage improved skin and prevent the development of wrinkles,” according to Dr. Alexis Livingston Young.

Dr. Young stressed again how beneficial it would be to conduct more research on this issue.

“Since this study was somewhat small, I would like to see additional research conducted with a larger sample size over a longer time frame. But I do believe that this is a fantastic place to start,” she added.

Ways to delay skin ageing

Your body’s largest organ is actually the skin that covers it.

A person’s skin has three layers:

• The top layer is called the epidermis.
• The middle layer, or dermis, is where the body’s blood vessels, nerves, and other crucial components are located.
• The innermost skin layer, the hypodermis, includes fat cells.

The epidermal layer thins with age, making the skin appear more translucent. In parts of the epidermis that may have been harmed by excessive sun exposure earlier in life, dark age spots may start to appear.

Additionally, the collagen-containing connective tissue that holds the various skin layers together starts to deteriorate. The skin may start to sag and wrinkle as a result of this.

There are steps people may take to assist slow down the skin ageing process, even though it is impossible to stop the ageing process. The American Academy of Dermatology Association offers the following advice:

• Put on sunscreen
• daily use of a face moisturiser
• Skip the tanning bed.
• employ calming skin care products
• examine retinol cream
• maintain a healthy lifestyle.

REFERENCES:

• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/2-glasses-of-non-alcoholic-wine-a-day-may-help-improve-aging-skin
• https://www.webmd.com/beauty/features/drinking-wine-antiaging
• https://www.lybrate.com/topic/how-wine-is-a-stunningly-good-anti-aging-weapon-2997/6596259b370fd6d7d0c4027dcfd79a5e

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