10 Health Benefits of Wine
Photo: Neha Deshmukh via Unsplash
Does some wine a day keep the doctor away? Let's find out.
We dug around to prove what we've all known for years and compiled a list of some the health benefits of moderate wine consumption.
We <3 wine.
Many doctors are in agreement that in moderation, red wine may be good for your heart. The alcohol and antioxidants in wine may help prevent coronary artery disease. The antioxidants in red wine called polyphenols may also help protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart. A polyphenol called resveratrol has especially been a hot topic of conversation these days as it might be a key ingredient that helps prevent damage to blood vessels, reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) and prevents blood clots.
Long live the winos
According to the findings from Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute, those who enjoy a glass of wine occasionally cut their risk of dying prematurely by almost one third. And as a group, those who enjoyed a glass of wine now and then had significantly lower mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer. The researchers’ findings also indicated that drinking any kind of alcoholic beverage helped but the biggest benefit went to the winos.
Sweet news
A research study at Amsterdam's VU University Medical Center indicated that moderate drinkers have 30% less risk than nondrinkers of developing type 2 diabetes.
Colon covered
Researchers at Stony Brook University published findings that moderate consumption of wine (especially red – pass the cabernet, please) cuts the risk of colon cancer by 45 percent.
Help against strokes
A published Columbia University study of 3,176 individuals over an eight-year period indicated that the possibility of suffering a blood clot related stroke drops by about 50% in people who consume moderate amounts of alcohol.
But weight, there’s more.
Moderate wine drinkers have narrower waists and less abdominal fat than people who drink liquor.
Protection against cataracts
A study out of Iceland suggests that moderate drinkers are 32% less likely to get cataracts than nondrinkers.
Brain power
A study published in Neuroepidemiology (2006) by researchers at Columbia University found that brain function declines at a markedly faster rate in nondrinkers than in moderate drinkers.
Wine could help support your memory
In a study where researchers gave memory quizzes to women in their 70s, those who drank one drink or more every day scored much better than those who drank less or not at all. According to Tedd Goldfinger, DO, of the University of Arizona School of Medicine, wine helps prevent clots and reduce blood vessel inflammation, both of which have been linked to cognitive decline and heart disease. Alcohol also seems to raise HDL, the good cholesterol, which helps unclog your arteries.
Wine, it does a body good
Women who drink moderately seem to have higher bone mass than those who abstain from alcohol. Alcohol appears to boost estrogen levels which slows the body’s destruction of old bone more than it slows the production of new bone.
We enjoy the occasional glass of wine here at Drinking Divas, but everything in moderation, divas (and dudes!). Just remember, it's always 5 o'clock somewhere.