It's Friday. It's been a long week, am I right? After losing an hour of sleep courtesy of an earthquake with bad timing (1 a.m to be specific) and a fairly hectic work week, I'm going to sit down and have a glass of wine. Wanna join me?
Good. Now that you have your glass you can drink it guilt-free because you're increasing your life span and fighting disease in a variety of ways. (And we're talking red wine here. I should have mentioned that before you got all cozy. My bad.) So listen drink up!
Red wine:
- Lowers risk of heart disease "Red-wine tannins contain procyanidins, which protect against heart disease. Wines from Sardinia and southwest France have more procyanidins than other wines," says a study at Queen Mary University in London, published in Nature, 2006.
- Reduces risk of diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association
- Lower risk of stroke - Moderate use of alcohol results in a 17-21% lower risk of stroke
- Decreased risk for cataracts. In a study done over five years, the incidents of cataract in non-drinkers was 32.2% whereas only 13% on those who drank moderate amounts of alcohol, particularly red wine, possibly due to the antioxidants. That's good news, 'cause how can you find your wine if you can't see it?
- Memory protection - Thanks to reservatrol found in the skin of wine, it protects against cell damage and the age-related mental decline.
- Longer life - versus those who drink mostly other types of alcohol. Again, possibly due to reservatraol. Here's an excellent article on reservatrol which, by the way, is an anti-inflammatory.
So what have we learned: We can live longer, remember longer, and reduce risk for cataracts. Any way you look at it, it's a win-win.
What's your favorite brand of wine? Do you find the more you pay, the better it tastes? Talk to me! Or drop me a note on my Facebook page.
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