Wine and Heath, Health Benefits of Wine, Red Wine Benefits, Wine for Health

Is wine good for you? In moderation and as part of an overall healthy diet, the answer is yes!

Wine is an important and popular beverage that are used in a wide range of European and Mediterranean-style cuisines, from the traditional and simple to the most complex and sophisticated. There are 7 main classes of wines like red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, apéritif , table, cooking and dessert wine, out of which red, white and sparkling wines are the most popular. They contain approximately 10-14% alcohol and are also referred as light wines. For health purpose, red win, followed by white wine is the best. Wine has a long list of benefits. Thanks to its alcohol content and non-alcoholic phytochemicals (natural occurring plant compounds) wine is known to be heart healthy, reduce forgetfulness, boost your immunity, help prevent bone loss and in loss of weight. However, actual benefits of wine can only be reaped when taken in moderate quantity.

Red and White Wine

Health Benefits of Wine: Red Wine Benefits

• Reducing Cholesterol: Alcohol has a very powerful effect and increase HDL "good" cholesterol if used moderately along with healthy diet along with regular physical activity. Higher HDL levels are linked to lower risks of heart disease. Non-alcoholic phytochemicals in wine, such as flavanoids and resveratrol, act as antioxidants and prevent molecules known as “free radicals” from causing cellular damage in the body.  Studies have shown that resveratrol can produce potent anti-thrombotic agents that can potentially improve cardiovascular health and lower the risk for coronary heart disease. Red wine provides much more resveratrol compared to white. That’s because the longer the skin is kept on the grape during the wine making process, the greater the concentration of resveratrol in the wine. 
• Preserving Memory: Wine could preserve your memory. Wine helps prevent clots and reduce blood vessel inflammation.
• Keep the weight in control: Studies have also shown that people who drink wine daily have lower body mass than those who indulge occasionally. Moderate wine consumers have narrower waists and less abdominal fat than people who drink liquor. Alcohol may encourage your body to burn extra calories for as long as 90 minutes after you down a glass. 
• Boost your immunity:  In one British study, those who drank roughly a glass of wine a day reduced by 11% their risk of infection caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria, which cause diseases like gastritis, ulcers, and stomach cancers. 
• Prevent ovarian cancer: When Australian researchers recently compared women with ovarian cancer to cancer-free women, they found that roughly one glass of wine a day seemed to reduce the risk of the disease by as much as 50 percent. And in a recent University of Michigan study, a red wine compound helped kill ovarian cancer cells in a test tube.
• Build strong bones: Alcohol content in wine helps to boost estrogen levels; the hormone seems to slow the body’s destruction of old bone more than it slows the production of new bone. On average, women who drink moderately seem to have higher bone mass than those who does not drink wine. 

Caution: 

There are also negative effects of drinking wine. To get the maximum benefits of wine, it should be taken in limited quantity. Drink more than what’s recommended, your health benefits are lost and your health risks go up. Here’s what’s considered safe and effective:

Men: No more than two drinks per day.

Women: No more than one drink per day.

One drink is defined as a 5-ounce glass of red or white wine, 12 ounces of regular beer (1 bottle) or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.

Tip

Alcohol can stimulate the appetite so it is better to drink it with food. When alcohol is mixed with food, it can slow the stomach's emptying time and potentially decrease the amount of food consumed at the meal.