Here's an alcoholic beverage UF can get behind: red wine.
Drinking red wine in moderation can lead to health benefits, according to a recent UF study.
Heather Hausenblas, UF associate professor at the College of Health and Human Performance and one of the study's three researchers, said the research reviewed past and present human clinical studies on a polyphenol compound named resveratrol, which is found in large amounts in red wine.
The year-long review concluded resveratrol could improve health.
"It appears to have antioxidant effects as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetics," she said.
Antioxidants protect the body from free radicals, which damage cells and can play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases, according to the National Institute of Health.
Organic red grapes will also contain more of this compound compared to non-organic, Hausenblas said, since organic fruits are not artificially protected.
Charles Sims, UF professor in the food science and human nutrition department, said the compounds that give health benefits, such as antioxidants, are concentrated in the skin of red grapes.
Sims, however, advises those who drink red wine to do so in moderation.
"If you are drinking two to three glasses a day, that's usually the reasonable amount to give you the health benefits without consuming too much alcohol," he said.
