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Could anything be more dreadful then having your doctor give you a diagnosis of cancer? Probably not. Still, who wants to chance it? There must be practical steps that can be taken to prevent it. When it comes to health care, the world is full of interesting folksy theories on prevention. Eat this, wear that and so on. Of course, most of these guidelines simply do not work. Ah, but one of the bigger ones is starting to show real promise. In some cases, the rumor or rule of thumb has some basis in fact. Red wine, for instance, has often been touted as preventing certain forms of cancer. The basis for this has often been the country of France, where cancer rates are low and red wine is a favorite beverage. As with many rumored situations, the issue of red wine and its preventative properties has been seeing some medical research. This research has resulted in some interesting findings. Red wine does, in fact, help prevent certain cancers. Red wine is rich in phytochemcials, which are chemicals found in plants. In particular, the wine has a heavy concentration of polyphenols. Some of these polyphenos, such as catechins and resveratrol, have anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties. The magic substance is found in the grapes, but not where you would expect. It is not the juice or pulp. Nope. The seeds and skins are the key. They contain polyphenols, which are anti-oxidants. Polyphenols are important to your health because they protect cells. As an anti-oxidant, a polyphenol will block the damaging impact of free radicals. Free radicals can mutate the cells, their DNA and so on. This is one way cancer is believed to arise. Red wine also contains high levels of resveratrol. Resveratrol is an interesting polyphenol. It is used by plants to defend themselves against disease. Resveratrol has been found to significantly inhibit cancerous tumor growth in animals. At first glance, it would appear that catechins, polyphenols and rseveratrol are the answer to our cancer problems. Maybe, but maybe not. Only a few studies have been conducted, so it is unwise to draw global conclusions. That being said, the results are positive. Prostate cancer is an aggressive disease for men. Studies have found that drinking a glass of red wine once a day may cut a man’s risk of prostate cancer by fifty percent. Four or more glasses a week can cut the risk by sixty percent. Does all this mean that you should rush down to the store and stockpile red wine? It is a bit early to suggest that. Nonetheless, a few glasses a week will not hurt.
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