Does this supplement protect your heart better than resveratrol?

You've probably heard of the "French Paradox." In France, where heavy fat-laden food is common, there's less heart disease than in the U.S. Most attribute the French ability to avoid heart disease to the resveratrol in wine. Most of the French drink wine daily. But now there's evidence that resveratrol may not be the only nutrient in wine that protects their heart.

Researchers recently found a new compound in wine. It comes from the waxy skin of grapes that dissolves into the wine as it ferments. The name of the nutrient is saponin. No one thought to look for saponins in wine before, but the compound is there. And it's abundant. Red wine with higher alcohol content seemed to contain more. Alcohol may make waxy saponins more available.

Andrew Waterhouse, PhD is professor of enology (wine chemistry) at the University of California, Davis. He says that red wine contains about the same amount of saponins as does resveratrol. Because wine doesn't carry as much resveratrol as you'll find in a quality supplement (such as the one from Advanced Bionutritionals), we've wondered how wine could possibly create the French Paradox. It takes a lot of resveratrol to protect the heart. And you can get these levels only from a supplement. So saponins are a much more likely answer.

Saponins also work differently than resveratrol. Resveratrol blocks oxidation of cholesterol. That process is what makes your necessary cholesterol into a dangerous molecule. Saponins are believed to work by binding to and preventing the absorption of cholesterol. They are plant sterols with a molecular structure very similar to cholesterol. They also modulate inflammation, which could lower your risk of cancer and heart disease.

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Other sources of saponins include olive oil and soybeans. Desert plants are loaded with them. Yucca and Quillaja need saponins for their protective waxy coat.

This wonderful information is even more gratifying to me because of a product I helped formulate: Advanced Joint Support. It has saponins as a key ingredient to protect your joints. I had no idea at the time that saponins could also work to protect your heart as well.

Dr. Waterhouse says that your average daily intake of saponins is about 15 mg. One glass of red has a total saponin concentration of about half that, so it can be a significant source. White wine has far less.

One tablet of Advanced Joint Support has 100 mg of an avocado/soy extract containing saponins. So, you don't need alcohol to get a healthy dose. Additionally, the product has other highly potent inflammatory modulating phytochemicals like turmeric. If you have vascular disease, cholesterol problems, and joint problems, Advanced Joint Support might just provide you a one-two punch. You can order Advanced Joint Support by following this link.

If you don't need the joint protection, keep taking your resveratrol. Not only are you getting heart protection from the resveratrol antioxidant, but you're also getting the saponins that come naturally with the resveratrol. You can order resveratrol from Advanced Bionutritionals by following this link.

Yours for better health and medical freedom,

Ref: ScienceDaily, September 9, 2003.