Good News for Our Wine Partners; Bar Harbor Cellars, Cellardoor, & Winterport Winery...Does this mean we'll see SPF ratings on the labels?? Jim

Wine Consumption May Protect Against Nasty Sunburn

01 Aug 2011   

Drinking wine may protect against the harmful effects of sunburn, researchers from the University of Barcelon revelaed in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. They explained that grapes and grape derivatives have a compound - a flavonoid - that helps protect human skin from the damaging effects of ultraviolet radiation.

The authors explained that wine has been shown in previous studies to have some effect in protecting against Alzheimer's disease, cavities, and prostate cancer. However, no prior study had looked at the effect it may have on human skin.

The researchers wrote:

"Several studies have demonstrated that human skin can be protected against UV radiation by using plant-derived antioxidants."

The scientists explained that when UV rays hit human skin they activate ROS (reactive oxygen species), which oxidize lipids, DNA and other large molecules, which in turn activate other enzymes that destroy skin cells. Flavonoids, found in grapes undermine the formation of the ROS in skin cells that are exposed to UVB and UVA rays.

Apart from revealing another benefit from consuming wine, lead researchers, Marta Cascante believes that their findings may lead to new ways of protecting skin for harmful sun rays.

The authors wrote:

"These encouraging in vitro results support further research and should be taken into consideration into the clinical pharmacology of plant-derived polyphenolic extracts as novel agents for skin photoprotection."