Red Wine & Its Benefits: Really??

I’ve had countless clients, family members, and friends ask me if wine can really improve overall health? Their claim is wine contains antioxidants that can be great for raising good cholesterol levels (HDL) and keeping your arteries clean and clear.

Resveratrol, polyphenols and flavonoids, are three of the types of antioxidants in wine that reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) and help guard against blood clots, both of which are common causes of heart disease. To find out if wine could offer health benefits for you, let’s take a look at these common myths about wine consumption and decide whether or not it’s a good option.

Note: Winemakers make white wine from black grapes because the juice in most black grapes is actually clear. White Grapes are a bit expensive to process.

The so-called French Paradox

Drinking red wine for its purported medical benefits is unlikely to have a great effect on your diet, health or weight.  Although the claim that the French have lower incidences of heart disease has been refuted by the World Health Organization, there are many contributing factors that may explain why the French appear have a fitter, healthier lifestyle.  These may be linked to a lower intake of hydrogenated, trans fats and sugar in their diet with a much greater emphasis on foods that use natural ingredients over processed foods.

Wine regulates Gut absorption

Among the potential problems of consuming  wine regularly  will lead towards constipation due to its high level of Tannins.
Tannins like caffeine acts as a diuretic, robbing your body of the fluid it needs to promote elimination. Tannin foods have been linked to the slow-down of food moving through the digestive tract leading to colon cancer too.
Note: The term tannin refers to the use of tannins in tanning animal hides into leather; figure out what will be its effect in your intestines when regularly consumed. Ever wondered why do you have stomach pain when you have excess wine, blame the tannins.

I Can Drink All The Wine I Want For Heart Health

When it comes to the health-promoting effects of red wine, its potential to protect against heart disease tends to get all the attention.
Yes, its true that red wine contains antioxidants, it doesn’t have  enough of antioxidants to prevent heart disease or maintain heart health. Furthermore, drinking wine doesn’t guarantee an improved health or a cardiovascular miracle.
The key to reaping the health benefits has to offer is to drink in moderation. But, many people don’t know how much is too much and how moderation is truly defined.

A glass of wine  can relax you before bedtime 

Sure, that evening glass of wine may promote sleep, but as you snooze, the relaxing effects wear off making it more likely to disrupt your sleep. Alcohol and wine will inhibit refreshing REM sleep, the stage during which dreams occur, leading to “REM rebound” later, with nightmares and trouble sleeping. As a result, the next day you’re sleepy, tired and less alert.

Red Wine is the Healthiest

One component of wine that is being ignored in such studies is the high acidity of wine. Wine has a pH of about 3.5 which is highly acid (pH 7 is neutral).
Those of us that are sensitive to foods that promote high stomach acidity such as wine, refined cane sugar, and white flour will not receive any benefits from drinking wine.
Red wine is generally thought to be the healthiest option, but the research has not yet been set in stone and fully verified on humans.

Wine cures Allergy

Sulfur dioxide, or sulfites, is a preservative that’s widely used in the winemaking process for centuries as preservative because of its antioxidant and antibacterial properties.Sulfites may produce allergic reactions like Wheezing or Asthma.
In the United States,Wines are not allowed to contain more than 350 mg sulfites per liter.If a wine has more than 10 mg sulfites per liter, it is required to have a “contains sulfites” warning label on it.
Young wines and sweet wines will have the highest sulphite levels, and after being bottled for a few years most sulphites will be gone. Red wine is higher than white wine for yeast which can trigger wheezing for a few.

Note: Sulfites occur naturally in wine so even if none are added, they are present. That means there truly is no such thing as a sulfite-free wine. However, Wines that have less than 1 mg sulfites per liter are permitted to carry a label that reads “no sulfites.”

TRIVIA

  • Italy though smaller in size than France and California is the world’s largest wine producing country. With ~20 wine regions stretching from its north and south end, Italy also offers the most variety of wines.
  • Cabernet Sauvignon “Cab” might be the most well-known type of red but definitely not the most planted grape. There are more merlot grapes planted in the world than any other red or white grapes.
  • Vintage wine is a wine with a “birth year”. The term has been commonly misused to describe expensive wine. When in reality, most non-sparkling wines are vintage wines.
  • One Red Delicious apple would provide at least four times the amount of OPCs (oligo meric proanthocyanidins) as one small glass of red wine.
  • Beetle nuts have twice the amount of tannins than red wine.

If you are trying to lose weight  or get fit or want to be healthy, a good place to start is looking at your diet. Red wine may have some health benefits but they cant be compared to advantages that you can have by starting a proper exercise regime and eating a balanced diet.

BeWell,
Vivek