Introduction

There are so many inherited metabolic disorders; in which case, some people are unfortunately born with these problems and suffer it all the days of their lives. As a result of these disorders, some of them cannot eat certain kinds of foods, and if they attempt to eat these foods, they suffer severe consequences.

It's completely amazing that we are in a wonderful era, in which science and technology are making ground breaking discoveries every now and then. As a result, new research has found that some compounds found in red wine and green tea can actually solve the problem that people with inherited metabolic disorders are suffering.

It feels incredible to understand that people with these congenital metabolic disorders have a beautiful future ahead. In this article, I would be breaking everything down for us. So guys, just relax and let's move together!!!

[Green tea. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Alessandro Martini. Public domain CCO. Licensed]

Green tea

Green tea is said to have originated in China as well as India. People have been drinking green tea for hundreds of years all around the world because of the enormous benefits it has on human health. Green tea contains lots of antioxidants and polyphenols which are very beneficial to the body. For so long, green tea has been used to aid digestion, treat mental illnesses, enhance the heart health, treat wounds as well as control bleeding etc.

Green tea has been found to be used in treating so many serious health problems; guys, would you believe that green tea has been connected with cancer prevention. O yes guys, it has; and the National Cancer Institute has related this to the polyphenols in green tea; which they found to reduce the growth of tumor in different animal studies. It is evident that in countries where the consumption is very high, the rates of cancer have been found to be lower when compared to countries that consume less green tea.

Research works have found that green tea has been showing positive impacts on some types of cancer, such as ovarian, skin, breast, colorectal, prostate, lung, stomach, throat (esophageal), bladder cancer etc. Studies have found that the polyphenols in green tea kills cancerous cells and inhibits their growth. Green tea has also been found to have so many heart benefits. A research has it that a compound called catechins contained in green tea protects the heart. Hey guys, green tea has also been linked to lower cholesterol levels.

I'm sure that you guys must be wondering by now, wow!!, green tea has so many health benefits, and yes guys it does; and it's advisable to drink it daily. We haven't even discussed it's link to reducing stroke risks.A few years back, a research work reached a conclusion that green tea may have positive impact on dandruff as well as psoriasis skin diseases. Green tea has also been associated with the treatment of mental disorders.

Research published in the journal Psychopharmacology suggests that green tea can enhance our brain's cognitive functions, particularly the working memory. Source

Hey guys, I'm sure that by now most of us would be planning to drink dozens of green tea bags daily (Lol!!); so I decided that I should as well tell us some of the risks. Now, you should understand that green tea contains caffeine (wow!!), but if you are caffeine sensitive, do well to avoid drinking green tea, or perhaps take as little as to avoid any complications.

Also, if you are currently using a medication to thin your blood, hence the name blood thinners, it is advisable that you avoid green tea, as both green tea and blood thinners perform similar functions, with regards to blood clotting. And for those people that are on stimulant drugs; please note, adding green tea to the stimulant drugs may actually increase your heart rate as well as blood pressure; and you should know that other problems are related to those two health problems I just mentioned above, such as hypertension, stroke, mental disorders and so on; hence, if you are on stimulant drugs, ensure that you avoid drinking green tea.

[Red wine. Source: Flickr. Author: Marco Verch. CCO Licensed]

Red wine

There have been many research works on red wine and its health benefits. The evidence gotten from all these studies, have suggested that when red wine is consumed moderately, it may actually help increase life expectancy, prevent cancer, fight against mental illnesses, as well as improve the health of the heart.

Research has it that red wine can be of great health benefits as a result of the compound it contains, which is called resveratrol. Resveratrol is produced by some plants to protect themselves against microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria as well as from ultraviolet radiation. Now guys, this compound (resveratrol), when found in red wines are derived from the skins of red grapes. There are other sources of this compound, such as cranberries, peanuts, as well as blueberries.

It has been found that resveratrol shows some positive impact on the heart, as it has been found to increase the levels of omega-3 fatty acids; which is known to protect the heart against disease. Usually, omega-3 fatty acids can be obtained from fish.

Red wine has also been found to have health benefits with regards to people suffering from type-2 diabetes. Research has it that the ethanol in red wine helps in glucose metabolism. Guys, there's also another compound of health benefit found in red wine besides resveratrol, and that compound is procyanidins. Studies have it that procyanidins helps in ensuring that the blood vessels are healthy. And remember, unhealthy blood vessels can cause serious problems, let's take for example hemorrhagic stroke, which is caused as a result of a weakened blood vessel in the brain bursting or leaking.

Hence, with the consumption of red wine, which strengthens blood vessels, the risk of having a blood vessel bursting or leaking is reduced. In this connection, red wine also protects people from angiogenesis, which is a condition in which the blood vessels in the eye grows out of proportion; as a result, angiogenesis may lead to loss of vision or blindness. In which case, it has been found that resveratrol in red wine may actually prevent this from happening, by preventing the excessive growth of blood vessels in the eyes. Also important to note is the fact that red wine has been connected to decreasing the risk of breast cancer. This is as a result of the fact that the chemicals found in the skin of red grapes as well as in the seeds have been found to reduce estrogen levels (female hormone); which is known to increase the growth of cancerous cells; on the other hand, the same chemicals increase testosterone levels.

Now, breast cancer is basically related to women; here's an importance of red wine that is related to men- prostate cancer. In recent times, there have been research works pointing at the benefits of moderate consumption of red wine to reducing the risk of prostate cancer in men; in which case it's been speculated that men who drink red wine moderately have half the tendency of being diagnosed with this cancer than men who don't drink red wine at all.

Now guys, let's discuss how drinking red wine moderately helps in preventing dementia. Studies have it that the main reason for this is that resveratrol helps in reducing blood stickiness. And as you know, if the blood platelets are sticky, they would hold on to the blood vessels, hence, narrowing the blood vessels and reducing the flow of blood to the brain. Thereby, causing dementia.

I know that some of us would be asking this question- why red wine? what about white wine?, doesn't white wine have health benefits? Ok guys, let me answer that right away- The truth is that both red and white wine have health benefits, because both wines contain resveratrol. Resveratrol is found in high amounts in the skin of red grapes. And in the making of red wine, there is more contact with the skin of the red grapes than in the making of white wine. Hence, red wine has more resveratrol than white wine, and in that connection has more health benefits than white wine.

[Chemical structure of Resveratrol. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Fvasconcellos. Public domain CCO Licensed]

---

Now, let's discuss how toxic metabolites accumulation may be blocked by compounds found in red wine and green tea.

---

Unfortunately, some individuals were born with metabolic disorders, also called inherited metabolic disorders or congenital ( meaning- inborn, inbuilt, natural etc) metabolic disorders.

Inherited metabolic disorders are genetic conditions that result in problems. Most people with inherited metabolic disorders have a defective gene that results in an enzyme deficiency. Source

Hence, as you can read above, there's an enzyme deficiency; of which enzymes are the workers in the body that help to carry out chemical reactions. Therefore, a deficiency in one enzyme may lead to the accumulation of toxic chemicals- because it's just like having a missing worker. Thus, people that suffer from congenital metabolic disorders actually inherited two bad genes, one from each of their parents. Meaning that the two parents carried one bad gene each, and both parents transferred each of their bad genes to their child with the disorder.

As a result, many individuals suffering from inherited metabolic disorders have to live on diets all the days of their lives. Recent research has it that some compounds that can be found in red wine as well as green tea may help stop the accumulation of toxic metabolites

Metabolites are organic compounds that are starting materials/intermediates in metabolism pathways. Metabolites are small simple structures absorbed in a diet. They include vitamins and essential amino acids. Source

The research found two compounds named epigallocatechins gallate (wow!!), also called EGCG. This compound is found in green tea. And secondly, tannic acids, which is found in red wine, and is very well known to stop the accumulation of toxic amyloid structures, that are known to cause Parkinson's disease as well as Alzheimer's disease. As I mentioned above, in individuals having inherited metabolic disorders, they lack an important enzyme; as a result, toxic metabolites accumulate.

[Epigallocatechin gallate structure. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Authors: Wereldburger758. Public domain CCO Licensed]

Take note, metabolites are normal substances in the body e.g. amino acids, they become toxic because the enzyme that was suppose to be working on them is absent. Now, this excessive accumulation of metabolites may lead to very serious mental disorders as well as developmental disorders.

Now, in order to help us understand this better, we would be discussing one of those congenital metabolic disorders, which one? guess? (Lol!!), just joking around. Let's discuss phenylketonuria (PKU); in which case, there is the accumulation of a particular metabolite called phenylalanine. Children that suffer from PKU have to live on diets all the days of their lives. They may suffer severe consequences on their development, if they attempt disobeying. And unfortunately, it's almost like a mission impossible; as almost all foods contain phenylalanine, which they must avoid.

The research used culture cell systems; in which case, EGCG and tannic acid were actually tested on some metabolites associated with some inherited metabolic disorder, such as adenine as well as phenylalanine. It was found that both EGCG and tannic acid stopped the accumulation of toxic metabolites. Feel free to check my references for more information.

[Tannic acids structure. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Michał Sobkowski. CC-BY-SA-4.0 Licensed]

Conclusion

Hello guys, splendid!!. We've been able to discuss green tea; how it has so many amazing health benefits, plus we were able to discuss the risks of taking green tea as well. We moved on to discussing red wine; in which case we were able to discuss about the compound that gives red wine most of its health benefits, which is resveratrol.

Then we moved on further to discussing the compounds (Epigallocatechins gallate and tannic acids) that stopped the accumulation of metabolites; in which case, EGCG is found in green tea and tannic acid is found in red wine. And then, we discussed how by using culture cell systems, EGCG and tannic acids were found to stop the accumulation of toxic metabolites.

Thanks for reading!

References

1. Is red wine good for you?

2. Inherited Metabolic Disorders

3. Metabolomics/Metabolites

4. Green tea: Health benefits, side effects, and research

5. Compounds found in green tea and red wine may block formation of toxic metabolites

Image Sources

All images used here are from free sources and liable for commercial use
all licensed under the Creative Commons.