Sake Health Benefits
Sake
prevents liver cancer: Statistical data in Japan indicate that the death rates
due to cirrhosis liver (hardening) and liver
cancer are low
in Tohoku district in Japan where the consumption rate of sake is the essence
of sake, but no whisky and
brandy have
such effect. Which chemical substances in sake are responsible to this is still
a subject of research.
Most
chemotherapy and radiotherapy kill both cancer cells and healthy cells. They
also decrease lymphocytes, the natural
inhibitors
of cancer cells. Better way of fighting against cancer is to activate NK cells
or LAK cells. Professor Okada of Aichi
University,
Japan, has found that sakekasu increases the effects of NK lymphocytes that
kill cancer cells. More recent medical
research
indicates that sake and sakekasu both include such substances that inhibit the
cells of bladder cancer, prostrate
cancer and
uterus cancer. The best part of sakekasu is that it is a food and has no
medical side effects.
Stress
reduction: Sake like other alcoholic beverages removes stress, promotes
appetite, and improves human relations.
Sake
increases good cholesterol: Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found among
the lipids (fats) in the blood stream and in
all cells in
the body. It is an important part of a healthy body because it is used to form
cell membranes, some hormones and
other needed
tissues. Cholesterol level is thought to be high if in the range between 200
and239, desirable if less than 200.
Low-density
lipoprotein (LDL) is the major cholesterol carrier in the blood. When a person
has too much LDL cholesterol
circulating
in the blood, it can slowly build up within the walls of the arteries feeding
the heart and brain. The formation of a clot
(or
thrombus) in the region of this plaque can block the flow of blood to part of
the heart muscle and cause a heart attack. If a
clot blocks
the blood flow to the brain, the result is a stroke. A high level of LDL
cholesterol reflects an increased risk of heart
disease.
That is why LDL cholesterol is often called “bad” cholesterol. About one-third
to one-fourth of blood cholesterol is
carried by
high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the
arteries and back to the liver, where it’s
passed from
the body. Some experts believe HDL removes excess cholesterol from
atherosclerotic plaques and thus slows
their
growth. HDL is known as “good” cholesterol because a high level of HDL seems to
protect against heart attack.
Sake not
only helps HDL cholesterol to remove LDL cholesterol accumulated in the blood
vessels by transporting to liver and
decomposes,
but also increases HDL cholesterol.
Body
warming: Sake keeps body warm longer than other alcoholic beverages. It is
found sake keeps body warm at a much
higher body
temperature than whisky. The warmer temperature means a better blood
circulation in the body, particularly in
brain.
Expansion of
blood vessels for better blood circulation: As one gets older, the blood
vessels become hardened and easily
clogged. As
a consequence, blood circulation in capillaries is hindered. Sake stimulates
heart and, at the same time, expands
blood
vessels to assist smooth circulation. Sake also increases urokinase, and
decreases trokisanchin-A2 that helps coagulate
blood.
Diabetes:
The sugar in the blood is converted to fat by insulin. There are two kinds of
diabetes; one is due to an insufficient
amount of
insulin supplied, and another insufficient work of insulin. Therefore, the
sugar level of the blood in the diabetes
patient
increases. The sugar that is not absorbed in fat is discharged to urine.
The body has
the hormones that have opposite effects of insulin, including growth hormone,
and catecholamine.
Catecholamine
is a hormone that includes adrenaline. Adrenaline decomposes body fat and
increases sugar in the blood that is
opposite to
insulin. The current therapy for diabetes is either to increase insulin in the
body by direct injection or to suppress
the work of
catecholamine. Sakekasu contains the insulin-like substance that resembles
insulin and has indeed the same
effects of
insulin.
High blood
pressure: There is a report about a 67 year old man. He suffered high blood
pressure for long time despite taking
medicine to
treat it, but was actually cured by eating sakekasu everyday for two months.
3 kinds of
peptide were found in sake, while 6 in sakekasu. Experiments with the rats that
genetically have high blood pressure
show that, a
few days after they are fed with sakekasu, the blood pressure become lower.
Also injections of the peptide from
sakekasu
into the rats’ body are found as effective as the high blood pressure drug. Of
course sakekasu has no medical side
effects.
Cerebral
infarction: Cerebral infarction is caused by either hardening of cerebral blood
vessels or coagulated blood carried
from other
parts of body particularly heart. It is triggered by high blood pressure,
diabetes, high cholesterol, and sometimes
stress.
Sakekasu has an enzyme to help production of urokinase, a substance to activate
plasminogen that resolves
coagulated
blood in the blood vessel.
Myocardial
infarction (heart attack): Sake reduces heart attack. Research indicates that
the group of people who consume sake
has a
smaller rate of myocardial infarction (heart attack) and arteriosclerosis, and
they live longer.
Pollen
allergy as well as regular allergy: An allergic reaction including pollen
allergy is basically the immune system gone
haywire. In
addition to attacking true enemies such as viruses and bacteria, the immune
system of an allergic person also
springs to
action when an allergen is present. In response to the presence of the
allergen, it attacks with antibodies called
immunoglobulin-E
(lgE). Different IgE antibodies are produced by an enzyme called cathepsins-B
for each type of allergen,
whether it’s
latex, pet dander, oak pollen or ragweed pollen.
Sake, koji
and sakekasu include the enzyme called peptide that suppresses chathepsins-B. A
frequent eating of sakekasu is
reported to
cure the pollen allergy.
Osteoporosis:
As one gets older, bones tend to become softer and porous. This is caused by
increases of chathepsins-L that
decomposes
bones. Researchers at Gekkeikan Research Center discovered that three kinds of
peptides that suppress the
effects of
chathepsins-L exist in sakekasu. Researchers in University of California as
well as those in University of Pittsburgh
have found
the sake’s effect to strengthen bones. Three to six cups of alcoholic beverage
per week are found to increase
estrogen and
prevent osteoporosis of older women.
With all that I say let's have some Sake!
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