With this being the last week of Heart Health Awareness Month, I wanted to write about one more step you can take to a happy healthy heart. We have all heard that eating dark chocolate, drinking red wine and even drinking (unsweetened) tea can be beneficial to heart health. Have you ever questioned why this is true? Red wine, cocoa and tea, are all high in FLAVONOIDS.

Flavonoids are a group of phytochemicals that are found naturally in these foods. For example, tea is high in a flavonoid called catechins, cocoa and wine are high in flavonols and soy is a great source of isoflavones. Research has shown that eating a variety of flavonoids is beneficial to heart health.

Flavonoids work by acting as a shield in plants to protect them against toxins and also help repair damage. It’s thought that when we eat flavonoids they act similarly within our body. Beneficial effects of flavonoids on human health are partly explained by their antioxidant activity. Because of the antioxidative property, it’s suggested that flavonoids may delay or prevent the onset of diseases (such as cancer) induced by free radicals. As antioxidants, they also help prevent damage from free radicals that can build up during normal body processes, such as breathing. When flavonoids prevent free radicals from building up, oxidation of “bad” lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol decreases, which prevents atherosclerosis, or plaque formation within the walls of the arteries. Flavonoids also appear to help prevent blood clotting, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, decrease inflammation and help with insulin sensitivity.

There are six different types of flavonoids:

• Flavonols found in green fruits and vegetables like onion and leeks, apple and broccoli, as well as teas (black and green) and tomatoes;
• Flavonones are found in citrus fruits;
• Flavones found mostly in celery and parsley;
• Catechins found in quite a few fruits like peach and apricot, apple, cherries and grapes and also Green tea;
• IIsoflavones found in soy;
• Anthocyanins mainly found in pears, cranberries, cherries, currants and blueberries and red wine.

Eating a variety of these flavonoid rich foods will make your heart happy and healthy, but I wanted to touch on the benefits of red wine since there has been made mention of a super grape in the news lately. Red wine consumed in moderation (one 4 to 5 oz. glass a day for females and two for males) has positive healthy benefits. As with any alcoholic beverage please consult with your physician before incorporating it into your diet.

As stated earlier, the flavonoid anthocyanins in red wine help protect your heart against cardiovascular disease. Not only do the flavonoids protect the heart, but the alcohol in red wine, when consumed in moderation, raises your levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, helps prevent the formation of blood clots and can help to protect your arteries from the damage caused by “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Recently in the news you may have heard about a super grape called Cannonau. Cannonau grapes are grown in Sardinia, Italy – an island off the coast of Northern Italy. Wine made from these little grapes contain two to three times the level of artery-scrubbing flavonoids than other wines. The grapes have a higher concentration of flavonoids because they must endure the harsh Sardinian sun in order to survive. They protect themselves by producing more red pigment which protects them from the harsh ultraviolet rays. It is the red pigment that harbors all the flavonoids and since the Cannonau grape produces more of this pigment they also provide more antioxidants. The best part is that a bottle of wine produced by these grapes doesn’t have to break the bank. I picked up a bottle at The Oconee Cellar for under $20. That’s a fair price to pay for an amazing bottle of wine with amazing health benefits.

If you have a nutrition question you’d like answered in this column send it to oconeenutrition@yahoo.com with “Question for the Breeze” as the subject title. Lisa Eisele, RD, CSO, LD, can be reached at (706) 473-5801.