Nonalcoholic muscadine wine may improve aging skin in older women

Key takeaways:

• Women who drank nonalcoholic muscadine wine daily for 6 weeks improved skin elasticity vs. baseline (P .05).
• Consumption of muscadine wine also decreased the amount of water loss in the skin.

Women who drank two glasses of dealcoholized muscadine wine daily showed significantly improved elasticity and water retention of their skin, according to a study presented at NUTRITION 2023.

The study is the first randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effects of nonalcoholic wine consumption on skin. Results showed that nonalcoholic muscadine wine caused a marked improvement in skin conditions associated with aging, which may be due to the polyphenols that are present in muscadine grapes.

“Muscadine grapes have been found to have a unique polyphenolic profile in comparison to other red wine varieties,” Lindsey Christman, PhD, senior scientist of emerging science and technology at Ocean Spray and lead investigator of the trial, said in a press release published by the society. “Our study suggests that muscadine wine polyphenols have potential to improve skin conditions, specifically elasticity and transepidermal water loss, in middle-aged and older women.”

The study included 17 women aged 40 to 67 years who were randomly assigned to drink either dealcoholized wine or a similarly tasting placebo beverage without polyphenols. Each participant consumed 10 oz of the wine or placebo daily for 6 weeks followed by a 3-week break and, lastly, another 6 weeks of drinking the opposite beverage that they were originally assigned.

Results showed that women who drank nonalcoholic muscadine wine daily for 6 weeks significantly improved their skin elasticity compared with baseline (P .05), especially the skin on their forearms. The consumption of muscadine wine also decreased the amount of water loss at the skin surface in the face compared with baseline (P .05), allowing the skin to retain water and maintain a strong barrier from damage.

According to Christman, these positive effects are “likely due to decreases in inflammation and oxidative stress,” which were also observed in women who drank nonalcoholic muscadine wine.

On the other hand, researchers did not see any association between drinking nonalcoholic muscadine wine and decreasing wrinkles.

Women who drank the wine did, however, show improvements in skin smoothness, but this improvement did not differ significantly from women who drank the placebo.

According to the press release, a trial that involves more participants would help confirm and strengthen these findings. Additionally, the authors cautioned that wine with alcohol will produce a different result.

Reference:

Muscadine wine shows promise in improving aging skin. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/995514. Published July 24, 2023. Accessed July 26, 2023.