Wine and Health-Part 1

Yesterday, I posted an article discussing which is better for your health, wine or beer. I indicated that there were more articles in the Web indicating that wine is better than beer. Today, I have another article from Frank Cabunoc, guest blogger from Fairfield, California, on Wine and Health. You are reading Part 1 now. I will post Part 2 tomorrow. Again, enjoy this very informative article.
Wine and Health

Wine has been used by man for ages and there is enough evidence of the benefits derived from drinking wines. It has been used for spiritual enrichment and to cure health problems for thousands of years. Modern science is proving what many cultures have known for many years, that moderate wine consumption is good for your health. There has been a vast spending of money into research studying wine and disease. Because of the complexity of disease, a direct correlation between wine and health is difficult to establish. But there are trends that are evident that indicate potential positive benefits of moderate wine consumption.

Behind all of the medical claims about wine and health is scientific evidence. The science of wine and health is receiving attention from both the medical community and wine lovers alike. Researchers are constantly learning about the chemicals and processes involved with wine and the human body. What we do know provides the backbone for physicians and researchers to find the association between wine and health.

Most of the pathogens that threaten human lives are inhibited or killed off by the acids and alcohols in wine. Because of this fact, wine was considered to be a safer drink than much of the available drinking water up until the 18th century. The alcohol in wine is a mild natural tranquilizer which reduces anxiety and tension. As part of a normal beverage with meals, wine provides the body with energy, with substances that aid digestion, and with small amounts of minerals and vitamins, and it also stimulates the appetite. Moreover, wine works to restore nutritional balance, relieve tension, sedate and act as a mild euphoric agent to the convalescent and the aged.

In the 1970s, a cardiovascular study showed moderate drinkers had 50 per cent fewer deaths from coronary disease than non-drinkers. The country of France has one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the developed world despite their high fat diets, smoking and drinking. The French have the highest per capita wine consumption in the world. This phenomenon is known as The French Paradox, and the results of this study changed our view on wine and health. The typical diet of people in France includes a very high proportion of cheese, butter, eggs, organ meats, and other fatty and cholesterol-laden foods. This diet would seem to promote heart disease, but the rate of heart disease among the French was discovered to be much lower than Americans. Herein lay the paradox.

Moderate and regular consumption of red wine may prevent coronary disease and some forms of cancer. The chemicals responsible are catechins, also known as flavanoids and related to tannins. The catechins function as anti-oxidants, they prevent molecules known as free-radicals from doing cellular damage. One particular form of flavanoids, called oligomeric procyanidin, proved to prevent hardening of the arteries.

There are chemical compounds in grapes and wine especially red wine, grape juice, dark beers and tea, but are absent in white wine, light beers and spirits called resveratrol and quercetin. Many clinical and statistical evidence and laboratory studies have shown these may boost the immune system, block cancer formation, and possibly protect against heart disease and even prolong life. A recent study 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 proof suggests that wine dilates the small blood vessels and helps to prevent angina and clotting. Moreover, the alcohol in wine helps balance cholesterol towards the good type.

Research on obesity and extending life span is ongoing, and it is a mistake for anyone to radically change their consumption pattern based on preliminary data. A study of obese mice showed that doses of resveratrol prolonged their life spans, but for a human to duplicate this dosage using wine, one would need to drink over 250 gallons per day.

Wine consumption might even preserve cognitive function in the frail and weak elderly. Many European studies have shown the prophylactic effects of regular light to moderate alcohol consumption may include the prevention or postponement of Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s diseases and other forms of dementia. It begs us to ask if wine could be the original brain food.

Another study 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. In contrast, 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.

Other medical research and 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.

Here's a video about red wine. CHEERS!