Champagne Is Good For Heart Health

By Margarita Nahapetyan

Drinking two glasses of champagne a day can do a lot of good to the heart and blood circulation by improving the way blood vessels function, concludes new research by a University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

According to the experts, champagne, just like red wine, has beneficial chemicals that bring down the levels of blood pressure, and lower the risk of developing blood clots, when consumed in moderation. A glass or two of bubbly facilitate delivery of nitric oxide (a vascular active molecule which controls blood pressure) to the blood vessels, relaxing them, and improving blood flow. To be more particular, champagne has the ability to induce these effects because it contains polyphenols, plant chemicals from the red grapes and white grapes that are used in champagne production. Nitric oxide is able to control blood pressure, as the polyphenols are absorbed into the blood stream where they start to act on the vascular (circulatory) system. Polyphenols slow down the natural removal of nitric oxide from the blood, therefore providing it with more time to act on the blood vessels, thus improving the flow of blood in the body.

"Our research has demonstrated that drinking around two glasses of champagne can have beneficial effects on the way blood vessels function, in a similar way to that observed with red wine," said Jeremy Spencer, a professor of molecular nutrition at the University of Reading department of food and nutritional sciences, and a principal investigator of the research. The expert added that scientists have always encouraged a moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages, but the fact that drinking champagne has the potential to lower the risks of developing cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, is very good news.

Given the fact that polyphenols are present in fruits such as blackberries, cherries, apples, grapes, plums, and strawberries as well as in vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and onion, consumption of such foods would also be very beneficial to the heart. Red wine, chocolate, coffee, olive oil and honey also contain polyphenols.

Whether the long-term effects of drinking champagne will also bring all the benefits to the heart is a question that has still not been answered yet. Therefore, it cannot be said with a certain degree of surety that drinking the sparkling beverage on a daily basis, till eternity, is in itself a reason to celebrate, and more research needs to be done in order to determine the long term effects of daily champagne intake. The National Cancer Institute warns that alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing other diseases like cancers of the esophagus, colon, liver and breast. Likewise, one should resist going overboard when it comes to the ingestion of bubbly.

The new findings were published online and will appear in an upcoming print edition of the British Journal of Nutrition.