Classic Wines

Wine's Health Benefits

Alcohol has gotten a bad rap, and deservedly so given liver failure, heart disease and the social dysfunction it can cause, however wine is in the paradoxical category of actually improving health. There has been a lot of talk lately about the components of wine and how they affect our physical wellbeing. Is it the antioxidant resveratrol? The other polyphenols from the tannins? The fusion of these with the alcohol component? More research is needed to devise exactly what brings about these lovely side effects -- but honestly, why make a pill out of it when the current method of consumption is so much more pleasant? So no matter what is behind the magic, here is a short list of some great reasons to raise your glass:

• Brain plaque. Sounds gross right? Well, it's even worse than gross -- it causes Alzheimer's. Here's some good news for people who love good news: wine prevents brain plaque! Jun Wang, PhD from New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine did a study with mice where they were divided into three groups, one group was given water mixed with Cabernet Sauvignon, one water with straight ethanol not from wine, the third simply water. After seven months they were tested in a maze and the mice who drank the human equivalent of a moderate amount of wine (one 5 oz. glass a day) did the best and had the lowest levels of amyloid-beta proteins (brain plaque). The mice with ethanol had the same success rate as those with just water which illustrates again what people have known for some time: drinking wine has benefits over consumption of other alcoholic beverages.



• A glass of wine a day cuts your chance of a heart attack by 30-50% even if you've already suffered from one! It accomplishes this by raising good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol) and preventing bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) from forming. Wine also helps to prevent blot clots and fat deposits that cause heart disease -- over all it's a good heart-housekeeper.



• One of the great benefits of preventing blood clots is the prevention of ischemic strokes, which are the most common kind of stroke.



• While most alcoholic beverages suppress the immune system, red wine actually enhances it.



• Studies show that moderate drinking of wine keeps belly fat down! Abstainers and heavy drinkers have on average over an inch more sneaking over their pants than moderate wine drinkers.



• The polyphenols in wine, of which resveratrol is one, are a powerful antioxidants which aide in the prevention of heart disease and cancer however there are other benefits being studied. Resveratrol increases sirtuin production, which postpones cell death: the longer the cells live, the longer the person lives, ostensibly. On average wine drinkers have longer life spans than non-drinkers or hard alcohol drinkers. Sirtuin levels are also raised by a restricted calorie diet, which leads me to believe the solution to all of our life's problems is to eat nothing and live off of red wine. Hmm... that might be a study I could get behind.

So the verdict is in: drink wine to a longer, healthier life. They might take another 20 years unraveling the whys and hows as to which man behind the curtain is making this so, but for me I'll be contented to come home to a glass knowing, whatever it is, it's in there somewhere fighting the good fight.