Monday 3 November 2014

More benefits of red wine



You've probably read and heard that red wine can be a very healthy beverage (heck, I too have personally covered this a few times in my previous posts!). However, you most likely only read and heard about generic benefits of drinking red wine, i.e. the antioxidants and resveratrol.


These are other key reasons why drinking red wine in moderation (1-2 glasses per day max) can be a super healthy part of your diet:-

1. People who drank red wine moderately per day (only dry red wine and not the sugary dessert wine variant) had higher levels of beneficial bacteria in their gut and lower levels of pathogenic bad bacteria in their gut.  Harmony and balance in your gut is crucial to everything from your digestion, immunity, metabolism, skin health etc.

2. In addition to decreasing pathogenic bacteria in the gut, red wine consumption also has a prebiotic effect in the gut in that it supports the growth and colonies of healthy gut microbes, which ultimately protect and promote good health.

3. Red wine drinkers have lower levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and CRP (C-reactive protein).  CRP is a measure of overall inflammation in your body, so it's great to see an association between red wine and reduced inflammation.

4. Red wine consumed with a meal can slow and moderate the blood sugar response you get from that meal.  This is yet another benefit to keeping your hormones balanced, controlling insulin levels, controlling appetite and staying lean!

You’ll not be able to derive any of the above benefits by drinking equivalent servings of another alcoholic beverage. This is because the benefits above are related to the polyphenols and resveratrol in red wine and not the alcohol content itself.

So go ahead and choose your favourite Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Shiraz or any other dry red wine to pair with your meal! I know just which French red to open for my next meal… :-)




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