Many health benefits are linked to wine. It is believed to help lower cholesterol, fight Alzheimer’s disease and even prevent cavities. Now, according to a new study, prevention of sunburn can also be added to the list of benefits.
In Spain, scientists found that the grapes in red wine contain compounds called flavonoids, which work to stop the chemical changes in the body associated with skin damage. If red wine isn’t for you, try grapes; the authors say they’re equally effective.
How does the red wine flavonoids work? When UV rays hit the skin, they activate “reactive oxygen species,” or ROS, which react with UV rays to destroy skin cells and cause sunburn. However, the flavonoids work to decrease the formation of the ROS’s in skin cells that were exposed to the sun’s UVA and UVB rays, which are linked to wrinkles and skin cancer, in addition to sunburn.
Biochemist and study director Dr. Marta Cascante (at the University of Barcelona) calls the results “encouraging” and suggests that wrote that they be taken into consideration during the development of new skin care products.
“This study supports the idea of using these products to protect the skin from cell damage and death caused by solar radiation,” Dr. Cascante reportedly said. Some cosmetics already contain grape compounds, but the way in which they act on cells was not fully understood.
