Researchers informs thatWomen who consumed two glasses of dealcoholized muscadine wine daily, had major improvements in the elasticity and water retention of their skin, compared to those who consumed placebo.
Researchers who carried out the study says that, this is the first time that scientists have studied the impacts of non-alcoholic wine consumption on skin health in a randomized clinical trial.
According to the research team, the valuable effects were attributed to chemical compounds called polyphenols which naturally occurs in many plants.
Lindsey Christman, professor of food chemistry and functional food says that, compared to other red wine varieties muscadine grapes have a unique polyphenolic profile.
Muscadine wine polyphenols have the possibility to improve skin conditions, especially elasticity and trans epidermal water loss for middle aged and older women.
To carry out this study, 17 women between the age of 40-67 were employed by researchers and they were asked to either drink a placebo beverage which did not contain polyphenols or dealcoholized wine, but looks and tastes similar. For six weeks participants, daily consumed 300 milliliters of their assigned beverage. Before switching to the opposite beverage for six weeks, the participants took a three-week break.
At the start of the study and at the end of six-weeks, researchers measured participants’ skin conditions and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. Since a loss of elasticity is the cause for skin to sag more, researchers concluded that by consuming muscadine wine will significantly improve the skin elasticity as we age.
The wine was reportedly associated with a decreased in water loss at the skin surface,a measurement which shows that the skin is providing a more effective barrier against damage, but they did not see any significant difference in the amount of wrinkles on the skin.
However, participants reportedly showed, improvements in skin smoothness and less evidence of inflammation and oxidative stress compared to baseline, but there was not a significant difference in these factors between dealcoholized muscadine wine and the placebo.
Mostly muscadine wine contains alcohol. Researchers warned that results may differ when consuming wine with alcohol.
We consume dealcoholized muscadine wine because we are interested in the effect of the bioactive compounds in the wine, specifically the polyphenols, on the skin health. Alcohol would add another variable to the study which may cause the effects to be different. In addition, the dealcoholizing process may alter the chemical composition, says Christman.
