GREENBEER,AGAIN. OR,PERHAPSNOT By Dr. Henry Goolsby
Funny how this year has brought up a plethora of academic memories related to the socialization process. I know Saint Patrick's day is right around the corner and the memories of Belgian ales sometimes tainted with that toxic green dye -whatever number it was- come to the fore of reverie and reminiscence. We are, however, the products of our social environments to a degree, and my francophonic brethren would surely provide me with a horrific tongue lashing were any attempt be made to extol the medical benefits of those gems that are the pride of so many of the Belgian monasteries. Particularly had they been colored green in "reverence" to St. Patrick.
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I must therefore fall back to the sometimes contested benefits provided by another product of fermentation, wine. We are, many of us, familiar with the benefits of the product of the fermentation of the sugar contained in the grapes that have served through the millennia as a source of relaxation and social lubrication; which is the alcohol content. But it was not this component that was felt to provide the benefit that caused the "French Conundrum." That conundrum being the fact that the nutritional lifestyle of the French, being heavily laden with high cholesterol containing foods, did not result in excess atherosclerotic disease. Further research disclosed a substance named resveratrol and this was, and still is thought to be a contributor to the lifesaving properties of this aeonian beverage. So, how is it that wine- or anything else for that matter- be beneficial or, for those of you with the Riedel half empty, detrimental. Consider, if you will, the human being.... The human genome project gives us-our species-- the grand total of about 25,000 genes from which we produce approximately 120,000 or so proteins to form our structure and day to day functions. This is accomplished by virtue of the variability of expression of the same gene segment modified by the multiple processes from translation to post-protein synthesis modifications. The sum of these activities being known as epigenetics. So our manifestation as human beings in our uniqueness is very much the sum of our genes being activated by the environment we expose them to, whether that be an externally sourced or self generated exposure. You are in sort the petri dish of your own choosing and making. Resveratrol resides in a number of different plants besides grapes (skin and seeds, responsible for the tannin content of wine), peanuts, pistachio nuts, eastern white pine and Japanese knotweed bark. Oenophiles will let you know, however that the greatest resveratrol content is found in the robust reds of the Iberian peninsula. Its effects in experimental animals has been shown to improve glucose metabolism and diabetic parameters, decrease inflammation, cancer incidence. In primates supplementation was accompanied by improved longevity and metabolic disease protection. Unfortunately
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