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Regular moderate wine drinking was discovered to be one prominent factor. Studies in England and Denmark found the occurrence of coronary disease to be much higher in heavy or binge drinkers and (surprise!) even higher in abstainers. It is very important to note that Europeans generally drink wine and water with their meals, while Americans drink milk, iced tea, soft drinks, or coffee.
Anti-Cancer & Coronary Benefits:
Moderate consumption of red wine on a regular basis may be a preventative against coronary disease and some forms of cancer. The chemical components thought to be responsible are catechins, also known as flavanoids. Catechins are believed to function as anti-oxidants, preventing molecules known as "free-radicals" from doing cellular damage. There are also compounds in grapes and wine (especially red wine, grape juice, dark beers and tea, but absent in white wine, light beers and spirits) called resveratrol and quercetin. Clinical and statistical evidence and laboratory studies have shown these to boost the immune system, block cancer formation, and possibly protect against heart disease and even prolong life.
One recent study, published in the 2004 year-end edition of the American Journal of Physiology, indicates that resveratrol also inhibits formation of a protein that produces a condition called cardio fibrosis, which reduces the heart's pumping efficiency when it is needed most, at times of stress. More evidence suggests that wine dilates the small blood vessels and helps to prevent angina and clotting. The alcohol in wine additionally helps balance cholesterol towards the good type.
Fountain of Youth?
A Harvard study of factors that influence aging, as reported in the May 8, 2003, issue of the journal Nature, has shown that resveratrol extends the life span of yeast cells by 80%. Preliminary results of tests on multi cellular animals are said to be encouraging; study co-author David Sinclair told Reuters News Agency that "Not many people know about it yet, but those who do have almost invariably changed their drinking habits, that is, they drink more red wine."
Wine might even preserve cognitive function in the elderly. Several European studies have shown the prophylactic effects of regular light to moderate alcohol consumption may include the prevention or postponement of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other forms of dementia. Could wine be the original brain food?
Digestive Prophylaxis:
A study published in January, 2003, in the American Journal of Gastroenterology showed that moderate, regular consumption of wine or beer decreases the risk of peptic ulcers and may help to rid the body of the bacteria suspected of causing them. Interestingly, both over-consumption, especially of beer, and any regular consumption of spirits at all, even at a low level, seemed to increase the ulcer risks.
The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a 14-year study of over 100,000 women, aged 25 to 42, from 14 states. The Nurses Health Study required participants to complete a questionnaire every two years, detailing lifestyle choices and diagnoses of any medical conditions. The subjects were categorized into three levels of alcohol consumption. After factoring in such variables as family histories of diabetes and smoking habits, the study found that women who drank regularly and moderately (one or two drinks per day, a total of 15 to 30 grams of alcohol) had a 58% lower likelihood of developing diabetes. Both those levels that drank more or that drank less had a 20% lower risk than either abstainers or former drinkers. When preferences for types of alcohol were compared, those who chose beer and wine shared similar levels of risk, but those in who drank spirits and consumed more than 30 grams per day had a 150% higher risk to develop diabetes than even non-drinkers.
Other medical studies point to multiple benefits of regular moderate wine drinking that may include lowered risks of stroke, colorectal tumors, skin and other types of cancers, senile dementia, and even the common cold, as well as reduce the effects of scarring from radiation treatments.
When word got out about the health benefits of wine, most wine drinkers stopped swirling for a long minute and took notice.
It was the mid 90s when story of the "French Paradox" poured from all media sources, and wine drinkers across the world swirled and sipped and rejoiced.
In case you missed it, baffled researchers launched a study of French folk, trying to determine why people with diets so high in cheese fats were not suffering from more heart attacks.
The findings? It's their moderate and steady intake of wine. Long after the discovery that the French were absurdly beating health odds, tons of research in support of wine drinking for good health continued to surface.
First, there were scores of positive studies related solely to the healing powers of resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red grape skins and therefore in red wine. However, now they're finding just as many benefits from white wines.
As a matter of fact, winemakers worldwide are even altering their production processes in order to boost the health benefits in white wine. All kinds of new findings still frequently bombard the media today.
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Check out some of the most recent studies that boast the health benefits of wine:
Overall Health Benefits:
• Anti-aging effects in red grape skins (Harvard Medical School in Boston, 2004)
Lung Health Benefits:
• Improved lung function from antioxidants in white wine (American Thoracic Society, 2002)
Heart Health Benefits:
• Coronary heart disease reduced (University of California, Davis, 1995)
• Healthier blood vessels in elderly (University of Ferrara in Italy, 2004)
Ulcer Prevention:
• Ulcer-causing bacteria reduced (American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2003)
Cancer Prevention:
• Cancer cells killed by protein in red grape skins (University of Virginia Health System, 2004)
Stroke Prevention:
• Arteries kept clean by polyphenols in red grape skins (William Harvey Research Institute, 2002)
Women’s Health Benefits:
• Decreased ovarian cancer risk (The Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia, 2004)
• Stronger bones (Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, 2004)
• Lower risk of stroke (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001)
Men’s Health Benefits:
• Lower risk of heart attack for men with high blood pressure (Worcester Medical Center in Massachusetts, 2004)
So “What’s the catch?” you ask. Well, the catch is simple moderation. Most of these studies promote drinking in moderation in order to achieve the blissful health benefits of wine drinking.
And what’s moderation? Well, moderation is defined as a glass or two each day, and no, you can’t save them up all week and drink all of them on the weekend.
In fact, too much wine per day or per week can lead to negative health effects in many cases and rather than prevent disease, you’ll actually up your odds of acquiring such diseases.
Isn’t it great when you discover that something you enjoy could actually lead to better health? I guess this must be how vegetable lovers feel about eating.
In any case, now you can sip your favorite glass of wine with ease and even fervor tonight. After all, the health benefits of wine speak for themselves.
Officially:
The official recommendation in the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Fourth Edition, published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is "Advice for today: if you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation, with meals, and when consumption does not put you or others at risk." This is a rather weak and passive permission, rather than the ringing endorsement moderate wine consumption deserves, according to the vast majority of medical and scientific evidence. It is, however, a progressive leap from the 1990 Guidelines, which said, "wine has no net health benefit", which is the contemporary scientific equivalent of saying "the earth is flat".
Cautions:
On the other hand, wine is not a cure-all and not everyone should drink wine. There are also circumstances when no one should drink any alcohol. When combined with certain prescription drugs, for example, alcohol in any form can produce an adverse reaction. Wine should not be given to people with inflammations of the digestive tract, peptic ulcers, liver disease, pancreatitis, kidney or urinary infections, prostate disorders, epilepsy, or alcoholism. As previously mentioned, pre-menopausal women with a family history of breast cancer should abstain from drinking any alcohol, including wine.
Sulfites exist in nature and are also naturally contained in or even added to preserve a very long list of many common foods, including wine, cheese, yogurt and other processed dairy, bread and baked goods, tortillas, dried fruits, dried spices, shellfish, dried seafood, canned, bottled, or frozen fruits and juices, jams and jellies, tofu and other soy protein products, packaged pasta or rice mixes, etc.. The human body actually produces about 1 gram of sulfites daily through normal metabolism.
About 1% of the general population and about 5% of asthma sufferers may react to sulfites. Symptoms commonly include restricted breathing ability to varying degrees from mild to severe, even life-threatening, especially in asthmatics prescribed to steroids. Skin rashes, hives, itching and nausea are relatively rare symptoms for sulfite allergy. Reactions depend on both the sensitivity of the individual and the level of sulfites ingested. Headaches are not a symptom of sulfite reaction, although this is a common folk tale (see next section).
Foods may legally contain sulfites at levels ranging from 6 to 6,000 parts per million. The legal maximum for wine is 350 ppm, but the average content in premium wine is under 40 ppm. White wines are generally higher in sulfites than red wines. Inexpensive wines generally have higher sulfur content than expensive wines. There are no wines that are entirely sulfite-free, even those labeled "organic".
Headaches, affecting some people during or after consuming wine, may result from individual reactions to one or more of wines' natural compounds. Although clinical trials have produced inconsistent results, red wine is suspected by some sufferers to trigger migraine headaches.
Phenolic flavanoids (the same ones that provide anti-oxidant benefits) are a component in grape skins related to tannins and which recent clinical evidence has shown to be the most probable culprits. Red wine has a much higher content than white wine of both tannins and flavanoids.
Chemicals called amines either dilate (histamines) or constrict (tyramines) blood vessels in the brain, either of which may cause headaches in a small segment of the population. Aged and fermented foods such as cheese, sauerkraut, salami, and sourdough bread are high in histamines. Although both red and white wines contain histamines, reds generally have higher content, especially low-acid reds made from grapes grown in warmer areas. Chocolate, vanilla, beans, nuts, bananas, cultured products like cheese and yogurt and fermented products, especially dark beer, soy sauce and red wine are all significant sources of tyramines. Taking antihistamine drugs, either before or after consuming, won't prevent or cure headaches.
The use of either aspirin or acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) either before of after alcohol consumption can seriously damage the lining of the stomach and should be avoided. The combination of acetaminophen and ethanol causes liver damage, so the former should never be used to treat hangover symptoms.
The only way to prevent a hangover is to avoid consuming too much alcohol. One good habit to develop is to match every glass of wine or drink with one full glass of water. Alcohol depletes electrolytes from the body and brain, so "sports" drinks can help also. The worst possible hangover "cure" is "hair of the dog", since hangover is merely the winky-winky, socially-tolerant slang term to describe episodic alcoholism withdrawal.
Overindulgence is potentially the worst health
problem of consuming wine or any alcoholic beverage. Drinking too much ethanol
at one time will cause headaches, nausea, and other symptoms for anyone,
regardless of individual tolerance to other compounds in wine. Drinking too much
or too fast leads to loss of control and judgment. A couple of glasses of
wine may help relaxation and lower blood pressure, but four or more raises blood
pressure to a level of concern.
Alcohol enters the bloodstream while it passes from the stomach to the small intestine and continues to the liver which uses an enzyme called dehydrogenase to break down and eliminate alcohol from the body. Evidence suggests factors of body size, muscle mass, food intake, gender, and experience affect one's capacity to resist drunkenness to some degree. On average, a healthy human can metabolize one-half ounce of alcohol per hour. The best rule is to not consume more than one drink (4 ounces of table wine) per hour, regardless of size, sex, or a full stomach.
Practiced in moderation and consumed with food at mealtime, wine drinking may develop cultural and sociological patterns that actually help to prevent alcoholism. The vast majority of healthy people may enjoy wine regularly and moderately as a pleasure that supports and prolongs a gracious life.
Related Links:
Super Foods: The Top 10 Healthiest Foods
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The Health Benefits of Wine... benefits
are not without cautions ...
