Wine and health
37. Of sommeliers and stomachs(Jul 3rd 2008)
From The Economist print edition

Red wine exercises its benefits before it enters the bloodstream

37-1-156
FINE food sings on the palate, but pairing it with the right wine creates a chorus. Among those in the know, the plum, chocolate and spice flavours of Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, Pinot Noirs and Sangioveses best accentuate the rich flavours of red meats. Now, however, a group of researchers led by Joseph Kanner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has discovered that pairing red wines like these with red meat appears to be more than just a matter of taste. If the two mix in the stomach, compounds in the wine thwart the formation of harmful chemicals that are released when meat is digested.
The idea that red wine is actually good for your health is irresistible to the average tippler. But it appears to be true. In particular, red wines are rich in polyphenols, a group of powerful antioxidants that are thought to protect against cancer and heart disease by destroying molecules that would otherwise damage cells. How the polyphenols in wine exercise their beneficial effects, though, has been mysterious. That is because they do not seem to travel in any quantity from the stomach into the bloodstream.
The answer, Dr Kanner has found, lies in the stomach itself. The digestion of high-fat foods such as red meat releases oxidising toxins. One in particular, called malondialdehyde, is implicated in arteriosclerosis, cancer, diabetes and a host of other serious diseases. Dr Kanner suspected that the key to wine’s protective effect is when, precisely, it is consumed. He hypothesised that if the polyphenols arrive in the stomach at the moment when the fats are releasing malondialdehyde and its kin, then this might stop these toxic materials from getting any farther into the body

A. 어휘
sommelier [식당, 클럽 따위] 포도주 담당 웨이터. stomach 위장.
excercise 발휘하다, 행사하다. benefit 惠澤(혜택). palate 口蓋(구개), 입천장, 미각.
sings on the palate 맛이 좋게 난다. pair 짝을 짓다.
in the know 내막에 밝아, 사정을 잘 알아. plum 자두. flavour 맛, 香辛料(향신료).
accentuate 강하게 하다. compound 化合物(화합물). thwart 방해하다.
release 放出(방출)하다. digest 소화하다. irresistible 거역할 수 없는, 매혹적인.
tippler 술을 홀짝 홀짝 마시는 사람, 술고래. molecule 분자. damage 損傷(손상)하다.
beneficial 유익한. mysterious 不可思議(불가사의)한, 신비로운. quantity 量(양).
in any quantity 小量(소량)이라도. oxidize 酸化(산화)시키다, 녹슬게 하다. toxin 독소.
implicate 連累(연루)시키다. arteriosclerosis 동맥경화증. diabetes 당뇨병.
suspect [무언가 있다고] 생각하다, 의심하다. protective effect 보호효과.
precisely 정확히. consume 소비하다. hypothesize 가정하다, 假設(가설)을 세우다.
kin 친척. toxic material 毒性物質(독성물질).

37-2-157
To test this idea, he and his colleagues fed a group of rats one of two meals--either red meat from a turkey (a foodstuff shown by previous research to raise malondialdehyde levels in humans) or such meat mixed with red-wine concentrate. An hour and a half after the rats had eaten, they were killed. Dr Kanner then removed their stomachs and analysed the contents. As he reports in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the wine concentrate did indeed reduce the formation of malondialdehyde. It also cut the level of hydroperoxides, another group of oxidising agents that cause cell damage.
Based on these results, Dr Kanner and his colleagues argue that looking for antioxidants from wine in the bloodstream was a mistake; they do not need to be there to be useful. Their research also suggests that the habit of eating fruit at the end of a meal is a healthy one. Many fruits, too, are rich in polyphenols (wine is, after all, just fermented fruit juice). By treating them as dessert, these fruits arrive in the stomach at the point when meat-digestion is poised to do its worst--nipping the problem in the bud, as it were.

A. 어휘
colleague 동료. feed-fed-fed 먹이다. turkey 칠면조. foodstuff 食料品(식료품).
previous 이전의. concentrate 농축물(식품). analyse 분석하다. contents 내용물.
journal 정기간행물, 신문, 일기. reduce 감소시키다. formation 形成(형성).
agent 행위자, 藥劑(약제). antioxidant 산화방지제. ferment 발효시키다, 酵素(효소).
poise 자세를 취하다, 균형. nip 쥐어뜯다, 물다. bud 싹, 꽃봉오리.
nip...in the bud 未然(미연)에 방지하다, ...의 싹을 잘라 버리다. as it were 말하자면.