Drinking Champagne Can Help Prevent These Terrifying Brain Diseases, Study Finds

A glass of bubbly a day may keep memory loss at bay.

A 2013 study found that drinking one to three glasses of champagne a week may delay the onset of degenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. The scientists at the University of Reading found that a phenolic compound in champagne can improve spatial memory and ward off brain diseases in rats.

Professor Jeremy Spencer, a researcher in the champagne experiment, said:

“These exciting results illustrate for the first time that the moderate consumption of champagne has the potential to influence cognitive functioning, such as memory. Such observations have previously been reported with red wine, through the actions of flavonoids contained within it.”

The compounds found in pinot noir and pinot meunier, the black wine grapes used to make champagne, influence the signals in the areas of the brain that control memory and learning called the hippocampus and cortex. These chemical compounds in the black grapes alter the proteins linked to storing memories in the brain.

As people get older, these proteins dwindle, leading to memory loss and brain disease. The high levels of phenolics found in the two grapes, pinot noir and pinot meunier, are responsible for the benefits to the brain.

The researchers from the study are looking ahead to apply their findings on humans. Dr. David Vauzour, another researcher in the study, said:

“This has been achieved successfully with other polyphenol-rich foods, such as blueberry and cocoa, and we predict similar outcomes for moderate Champagne intake on cognition in humans.”

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