Israeli scientists have devised a way to make white wine that boasts health benefits similar to red wine, which may help ward off heart disease. Research published on Wednesday in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, published by the American Chemical Society, details a process that yields white wine rich in so-called antioxidants, much like red wine already is. White wine traditionally is made without the use of grape skins.
Red wine is made by fermenting the juice from grapes along with the skins.
The skins provide red wine with its color and contain the highest concentration of polyphenols, which are potent antioxidants. Researchers led by biochemist Michael Aviram of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, developed a method to make white wine that exploited the grape skins. Aviram said oxidized cholesterol in the blood is deposited in the arteries and can cause blockages and heart attacks. The people in southern France, even though they eat fatty food, they get almost one-fifth the rate of heart attacks as, let's say, the Finnish people who also eat fatty food. Some researchers argue that the link between wine consumption and reduced risk of heart disease remains unproven in the absence of long-term human clinical trials.