Red Wine: More Reasons To Cheer

Drinking red wine does not completely negate poor healthy lifestyle choices.

Here’s another reason to celebrate with wine and be merry! There’s this natural compound called resveratrol which is found in certain red wines and may trick the body into thinking it’s getting fewer calories than it actually is.

What’s more, you don’t need to overindulge to reap the reward. You see, like vegetables, fresh fruits are good for our health. Not only do they taste great, but they are filled with important vitamins and minerals. Numerous stories have been told about the healing power of grapes where red wine comes from.

Grapes are loaded with phytonutrients such as resveratrol, quercetin, anthocyanin and catechin. Resveratrol, found primarily in the skin of grapes, has been found in preliminary studies to fight breast, liver and colon cancers. Resveratrol is also believed to play a role in the reduction of heart disease and has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties.

According to a research published in the June 3 issue of the online, open-access journal Public Library of Science One (PLoS One), the study suggests that drinking red wine may offer many of the same benefits as a reduced-calorie diet.

Experts found that low doses of resveratrol slowed the aging process in middle-aged mice and improved their overall heart health. Specifically, the findings revealed in the resveratrol-fed mice mimicked those often seen with caloric restriction: the practice of cutting 20%-30% of calories out of one’s typical diet in an effort to improve health and prolong life. Numerous studies have linked caloric restriction to a longer, healthier life.

Furthermore, it was discovered that resveratrol is active in much lower doses than previously thought. Until now, researchers believed that high doses of resveratrol, which is impossible to obtain by drinking wine, were necessary to ward off the unhealthy consequences of eating a high-fat, high-calorie diet.

Richard Weindruch, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of medicine and a researcher at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital said that this brings down the dose of resveratrol toward the consumption reality mode.
The experts believe that their findings provide strong evidence that resveratrol can improve one’s quality of life and call the idea of low-dose resveratrol supplementation, in the form of wine or perhaps one day a pill, which is “a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac aging.”

While drinking one or two glasses of red wine each day can protect against cardiovascular disease in certain people, more than that can result in negative effects that outweigh the positive ones. For example, drinking too much alcohol can raise the levels of triglycerides in some people.

Overall, drinking red wine does not completely negate poor lifestyle choices. The calorie-restricted mice had lower rates of cancer. There was no comparable reduction in the incidence of tumors in the resveratrol-supplemented mice.
It is always important to remember that attaining and maintaining a normal weight, eating a sensible diet, and engaging in regular exercise are essential components for living a long and healthy life. And don’t forget that moderation is always the key to a better life.