Red Wine and Mental Illness

Researchers at the Centre for Research in Health Technologies and Services (Cintesis) in the northern Portuguese city of Porto have found that substances in red fruits and red wine improve intestinal flora, reduce inflammation and may contribute to the prevention of depression and neurodegenerative diseases.

“Regular consumption of red fruits or red wine may play an important role in regulating the intestinal microbiota, reducing inflammation, preventing depression, and combating dementia and other neurodeg-enerative diseases through the presence of a particular class of compounds in these foods (anthocyanins)”, the study, released on Tuesday, concluded.

Led by Conceição Calhau, a researcher at Cintesis and professor at Nova Medical School, the team conducted a series of studies to evaluate the relationship between the type of diet, the composition of intestinal microbiota, that is, the set of microbes that inhabit the intestine, and the brain itself.

Scientists found that in animals, a diet rich in saturated fat negatively alters the composition of the intestinal microbiota and leads to inflammation in the brain.

In animals it was found that  the continuous intake of blackberry extract rich in anthocyanins is able to improve the intestinal microbiota and reduce the inflammation in the brain that underlies the neurological complications associated with obesity.

In humans, a clinical trial also compared the impact of a blackberry ‘purée’ when ingested in the presence or absence of alcohol.

“The results suggest that the consumption of blackberry ‘puree’ with alcohol increases the levels of anthocyanins in the blood. However, further studies are needed to see if overweight or obese individuals can effectively benefit from the consumption of foods containing both anthocyanins and alcohol, as is the case with red wine”, researchers explained.