Drinking Red Wine May Help You Jumpstart Your Weight Loss

Drinking one glass of red wine regularly has been linked to decreased risk of certain cardiovascular issues. The antioxidants found in the drink can help your heart. Yet did you know that drinking red wine may also help you lose weight?

Recent findings published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry reveal that drinking small amounts of red wine could also help burn fat.

For the study, researchers examined human liver and fat cells grown in a lab. The tissues were exposed to the extracts of four natural chemicals found in Muscadine grapes--a dark-red fruit that's native to parts of the south-eastern United States.

They discovered that Ellagic acid, a natural phenol antioxidant found in numerous fruits and vegetables, helped to dramatically slow the growth of existing fat cells. In fact, it even helped prevent the formation of new ones.

However, this doesn't mean it's ok to drink excessive amounts of red wine. 

"We did not expect, and we did not find, these compounds to improve body weight," Neil Shay, biochemist and molecular biologist at the Oregon State University, said in a news release. "If we could develop a dietary strategy for reducing the harmful accumulation of fat in the liver, using common foods like grapes, then it would be good news."

Researchers hope that future studies may guide them towards a dietary strategy for reducing the accumulation of fat cells in the liver; this could help to provide proper food selection for overweight/obese patients who are still having difficulties with losing weight in spite of current treatments.