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Red Wine Prevents Alzheimer's

Ivanhoe Newswire
 
By Vivian Richardson, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A little red wine every day could be exactly what the doctor ordered. A new study reveals moderate consumption of Cabernet Sauvignon actually prevents an Alzheimer's-like disease in mice.

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York wanted to know if the FDA's recommended servings of red wine per day, approximately one glass for women and two glasses for men, would have the same effect on health previous studies and surveys of populations have shown in the past.

"We wanted to get as close as possible to the human condition," says researcher Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He and his colleagues gave mice that mimic Alzheimer's disease the equivalent of once glass of Cabernet Sauvignon a day.

What the researchers discovered was that one glass of red wine a day was all the mice needed to get significant brain-protecting benefits. "Moderation is the key word, otherwise you lose all the benefit," says Dr. Pasinetti.

Researchers also report that they now have a better idea of what in the wine is so good for us. It's all thanks to the effects the chemicals in wine have on amyloid precursor protein, which is the stuff that hardens into plaques in the brain, causing Alzheimer's. The red wine chemicals seem to keep that from happening.

"One of the mechanisms that red wine might have in attenuating memory function is indeed through this kind of mechanism by preventing the formation of more complex structures of soluble structures," says Dr. Pasinetti. Which means red wine can even help prevent or lessen age-related memory loss in people without Alzheimer's. That's because the amyloid precursor protein is in everyone's brain. Any time it comes together in any kind of structure, the brain works less efficiently.

The Cabernet Sauvignon used in this study, however, is no ordinary wine. Food science and human nutrition researcher Susan Percival at the University of Florida in Gainesville created a special Cabernet Sauvignon in the lab. Because the wine from any old vineyard can change from vintage to vintage, she created a wine that would remain consistent for lab studies like Dr. Pasinetti's.

Dr. Pasinetti says with this research scientists are one step closer to understanding the exact molecule that is responsible for protecting memory ... and closer to synthesizing that molecule in a lab where it can be used to create drugs that would prevent or even cure Alzheimer's.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine

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A Quick Guide to Optimal Temperatures for Serving Wines

In very general, red wines are served at cooler room temperatures and white wines are best served chilled. When wines are served too warm they tend to taste unbalanced with an alcohol edge. When wines are served to cold the innate flavors and aromas are significantly suppressed. So, to serve your wines just right, take a look at the Wine Serving Temperature guidelines below.
Optimal Wine Serving Temperatures : 

White Wines: 45-50 °F or 7-10 °C

Red Wines: 50-65 °F or 10-18 °C

Rosé Wines: 45-55 °F or 7-13 °C

Sparkling Wines: 42-52 °F or 6-11 °C

Fortified Wines: 55-68 °F or 13-20 °C

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All You need to Know for Properly Chilling Wine

The very best way to chill a bottle of wine is in a bucket of ice and water. Fill the ice bucket up about about 3/4 full of ice mixed with water. Bury the base of the bottle of wine in the ice and allow it to chill for about 30 minutes. You can also chill wine in the refrigerator, but it will take a good three hours to chill to an appropriate serving temperature. If left in the refrigerator too long (a few days), you risk producing a corked wine. Also remember that wine and freezers are not friends. No matter how tempting it is to just pop a bottle in the freezer for "just a few," resist the temptation and save your wine! The bucket of ice and water,"no frills" method for chilling wine is tried and true and will leave you with wine at its best.

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Learn the Art of Washing Glassware

It sounds simple enough, I mean you wash juice and milk glasses all the time, what could be so special about washing a wine glass? Truth is, wine glasses do need just a bit more care in the washing arena. Keep in mind that the liquid in the wine glass is typically a bit pricier than your jug of milk or orange juice, so the extra measures to ensure a clean glass could be viewed as merely protecting your investment. 

Washing Phase 
To wash a wine glass you can take one of several approaches:

The Rinser Method
As easy as it sounds, just rinse, rinse and triple rinse your wine glasses with hot water. Make sure that all of the residual wine is removed and allow glasses to air dry, turned upside down on a clean towel.

The Washer Method
Using a very mild detergent, sparingly add a drop to each glass and sponge the soap around to remove all wine stain. 

Then rinse the heck out of the glass. Soap residue left on your wine glass will interfere with the flavor and aroma of wine. 

The Soda Method
Often reserved for delicate crystal glasses, washing soda (or baking soda if you are hard pressed) will gently clean the glass and absorb residual wine. Washing soda is available in most grocery stores in the detergent section. Remember that crystal is much more porous than typical glass and is more likely to absorb odors from its surroundings, be that storage companions - like a cupboard full of coffee or cleaning detergents used in the process. 

Dishwasher Method
Wine glasses that have shorter stems and that are not made from crystal are ideal candidates for the good old dishwasher. Just use a bit less detergent than you would for a normal, full load and don't set the wash cycle on "heat dry," so that you avoid baking on detergent that has not washed clean. Once the cycle is complete, immediately remove glasses and hand dry with a cotton (lint-free) dish towel. 
The method may vary, but the result should be the same - a clean glass of wine, every time.

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Screw Cap Closures on the Rise

Screw caps often associated with cheap wines, have some perception hurdles to hop, but many winemakers in the U.S. and abroad are experimenting with them on select wines. New Zealand is leading the wine industry with over 25 wineries converting from cork to cap, with wineries in Australia, Spain, South Africa, South America, Canada, the U.S. and France all testing the capping trend as well. 
Currently there are three ways to close a bottle of wine: natural cork, synthetic cork and screw caps. 

Natural cork closures have a centuries-long heritage; however, they allow for a bottle of wine to be "corked" as the saying goes. A "corked" bottle has a musty smell and taste that stems from TCA (2,4,6-Trichloroanisole) - a substance used to sanitize the natural cork prior to bottling. 

The result is a flat, moldy flavor devoid of fruit-filled taste and aroma. It is estimated that about 5-10% of wines available on merchants' shelves are "corked." 
Synthetic corks, derived from plastic, appeared to be a viable alternative to traditional corks. However, their track record has been tarnished due to their inability to keep oxidation at bay for any real length of time, significantly decreasing the shelf life of a wine and short-changing the maturing process of select wines. 

Screw caps provide the best seal for bottled wines, and eliminate the "corked" and oxidation problem in one fell swoop. Hogue Cellars completed a 30-month study comparing natural and synthetic cork closures with the Stelvin screw caps, their findings suggest significant benefits in utilizing screw caps over either natural or synthetic cork closures. While, screw caps do diminish the drama and romance of bottle opening it is well worth the sacrifice to ensure a taint-free wine that offers consistent aging, maintained flavor and freshness with optimum quality control. 

The Stelvin screw cap appears to be the industry's cap closure of choice. With producers such as Hogue Cellars , Beringer, Bonny Doon, Penfolds and many others utilizing the Stelvin screw cap closure for wines of all price ranges - we are sure to see this trend take hold as winemakers and wine enthusiasts alike place a higher priority on overall quality and less on "corked" tradition.

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