8 Health Benefits of Drinking Wine

Every year, there is a flurry of headlines about the health benefits of wine. But can drinking wine really make a difference? Here, the news—very good news, indeed—from the latest studies. Note: The health benefits come from moderate wine consumption, defined by the American Heart Association as one to two four-ounce glasses a day.
By Christine Quinlan
The Benefit: Promotes Longevity
The Evidence: Wine drinkers have a 34 percent lower mortality rate than beer or spirits drinkers. Source: a Finnish study of 2,468 men over a 29-year period, published in the Journals of Gerontology, 2007.
The Benefit: Reduces Heart-Attack Risk
The Evidence: Moderate drinkers suffering from high blood pressure are 30 percent less likely to have a heart attack than nondrinkers. Source: a 16-year Harvard School of Public Health study of 11,711 men, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, 2007.
The Benefit: Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
The Evidence: Red-wine tannins contain procyanidins, which protect against heart disease. Wines from Sardinia and southwest France have more procyanidins than other wines. Source: a study at Queen Mary University in London, published in Nature, 2006.
The Benefit: Reduces Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
The Evidence: Moderate drinkers have 30 percent less risk than nondrinkers of developing type 2 diabetes. Source: research on 369,862 individuals studied over an average of 12 years each, at Amsterdam's VU University Medical Center, published in Diabetes Care, 2005.
The Benefit: Lowers Risk of Stroke
The Evidence: The possibility of suffering a blood clot–related stroke drops by about 50 percent in people who consume moderate amounts of alcohol. Source: a Columbia University study of 3,176 individuals over an eight-year period, published in Stroke, 2006.
The Benefit: Cuts Risk of Cataracts
The Evidence: Moderate drinkers are 32 percent less likely to get cataracts than nondrinkers; those who consume wine are 43 percent less likely to develop cataracts than those drinking mainly beer. Source: a study of 1,379 individuals in Iceland, published in Nature, 2003.
The Benefit: Cuts Risk of Colon Cancer
The Evidence: Moderate consumption of wine (especially red) cuts the risk of colon cancer by 45 percent. Source: a Stony Brook University study of 2,291 individuals over a four-year period, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2005.
The Benefit: Slows Brain Decline
The Evidence: Brain function declines at a markedly faster rate in nondrinkers than in moderate drinkers. Source: a Columbia University study of 1,416 people, published in Neuroepidemiology, 2006.
5 Benefits Of Drinking Wine
Posted: Jun 02, 2008
There is much more to wine than being a drink to enjoy. There is more than the rich tastes and the variety of the culture of wine. You have likely heard that science is starting to take an interest in wine because it can actually be healthy to include wine in your daily diet.

Studies are ongoing, but preliminary results shown favorable upon wine as being something that should be included in the diet of people who wish to avoid common diseases and problems associated with aging. In fact, many doctors even recommend to patients that adding a glass of wine with dinner is not something you should be ashamed of, but rather something you should be doing.

Wine contains anti-bacteria agents and something called procyanidins that both work in wonderful ways in your body to help improve your health. Wine also, being an alcohol, helps to thin blood and let it flow more smoothly through your body. These factors create many benefits that you experience just from drinking wine.

Five of the benefits that you get from drinking wine are outlined below.

1. Good heart health. Wine is good for the heart because it helps to thin our blood which allows the heart to work a little less. Additionally, studies have shown that people who consume wine in moderate amounts have lower occurrences of heart disease and other heart problems then people who do not drink wine.

2. Lowers risk for diabetes. Studies have shown that drinking wine helps to reduce the risk for developing diabetes. The make up of the wine and its alcohol base help to extend the function of the pancreas and sweep glucose from the body, allowing a person to avoid diabetes onset later in life.

3. Lowers risk for stroke. Just as wine helps with heart disease it helps prevent stroke. The thinning of the blood helps to prevent clots that lead to stroke.

4. Lowers risk for cataracts. Studies have shown that wine helps to prevent cataracts. More studies are needed to determine why, but it has been shown in study after study that people who drink wine regularly have a lower occurrence for cataracts.

5. Lengthens life. Wine has been shown to help lengthen your life. With all of the health benefits it is no wonder that drinking wine will help you to live longer. Wine has been shown to help slow down the aging of the brain and therefore allow better brain function longer.

Wine lovers will rejoice when all these studies are completed and finally prove that wine is good for you. The one thing, though, that should be noted about the benefits of wine is that these benefits have only been shown to outweigh the negative effects of alcohol consumption when wine is drank in moderation.

Excessive use of wine can lead to problems with the liver and other health issues associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Usually a glass of wine a day is enough to reap the benefits and avoid the problems.

Health Benefits of Drinking Wine: What Health Benefits Do You Get From Drinking Wine?
We have been hearing for years that there are wonderful health benefits of drinking wine, specifically red wine. Taken in moderation, as all the studies report, the red wine benefits can dramatically improve your health.
Since 1991 there have been hundreds of reports providing strong evidence proving the health benefits of drinking red wine. Most studies suggest two 4-ounce glasses per day is enough to lower the risk of heart attack, lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood, decrease the risk of heart disease and even decrease the risk of some forms of cancer.
While the "French Paradox" is just a theory, it's no theory that the wine-loving French suffer 1/3rd the heart attacks we do in America.
Wine can improve digestion, promote relaxation and helps foster a good mood. Another of the red wine health benefits is wine's ability to increase the body's absorption of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc.
All these important minerals help prevent osteoporosis - another great red wine benefit. Red wine also contains iron, a necessary mineral for oxygen transport in the body. Thus drinking red wine helps deliver the iron necessary (10 mg per day for men, 15 mg per day for women) and it's non-heme iron, which is different than the kind in meat (and Cheerios.)
The April 2009 Issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted a study of 2,700 people and their alcohol habits. What they found was that men who had one to two drinks per day had 4 percent more bone density than those who had none. Women had 5 to 8 percent denser bones. Beyond two glasses a day though, the bone strength diminished. The study also proved that beer and wine far outweighed the benefits of other alchohol.
What Makes Wine Healthy?
The health benefits of drinking wine come from the chemical makeup of the wine, not necessarily the alcohol. Alcohol is the byproduct of fermentation, which on its own has tremendous health benefits (if taken in moderation of course).
The alcohol itself may help to raise the good cholesterol and inhibit the formation of blood clots. This is called vasodilation, meaning the opening of the blood vessels and increasing blood flow. Alcohol can not be dismissed as one of the health benefits of drinking wine but. . .
The real benefits in red wine are the ingredients derived from the grapes themselves. The best part of the grape is the skin.(I'm sorry to report to you white wine lovers that red wine wins the health contest every time.) Since the skins are used in the process of fermentation, their benefits get absorbed into the red wine.

Health Benefits of Drinking Red Wine
Written by: Sen - CalmDownMind.com
If you are a wine lover, who enjoys drinking in moderation, it’s a good bet that you are enjoying good health as well. All the wine lovers I have met are usually in the pink of their health, irrespective of their age. These are people who enjoy sipping their wine, savoring its body and taste, they drink it moderation, more to enjoy its flavor than to get inebriated with it. Something told me wine was good for me, even as a youngster when I first tasted it. I fell in love with the taste of wine with my first sip, and to later learn that it’s medically proven to have health benefits only improved my sense of wellness.
There is something about wine that defines a sense of well-being. No wonder it’s a popular gift given around festivals. In several cultures it’s considered courteous to bring a bottle of wine over when you go to someone’s place for dinner. It’s rare to find people who don’t enjoy the taste of wine, even the relative non-drinkers like to have a glass of wine occasionally. The question being asked was whether wine is good for health? And much to the joy of wine drinkers, it’s been validated through several scientific studies that red wine has several health benefits when taken in moderation.
In this article we will discuss the health benefits of drinking red wine in particular. White wine is known to be beneficial for health too, but is not as potent as red wine because white grapes have less anti-oxidant compounds than red grapes.
How does red wine help digestion?
It has been found that red wine contains several anti-oxidant compounds called polyphenols, along with essential vitamins, minerals and sugars, that have a very positive effect on the physiological functions of the body.
The presence of anti-oxidative polyphenols seems to curb the growth of three destructive bacteria namely – H.pylori, E.coli and Salmonella. These bacteria are known to cause several digestive malfunctions, and can result in diseases like stomach ulcer, diarrhea and other gastro-intestinal infections.
Many fried foods, and food products manufactured for long-time storage, contain damaging compounds called the – lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH) and malonaldehydes (MDA). These compounds can cause several digestive issues, and are toxic to the body in general. Studies have indicated that drinking red wine, with such foods, helps neutralize the LOOH and MDA compounds in the food by up to 60-70%, thus making the food more wholesome for digestion.
If you like to eat red meat, you will find that drinking red wine with it helps you digest the meat better. It’s has been found that red meat, and some other non-vegetarian foods, have the capacity to release some harmful chemicals in the digestive tract during digestion. Red wine has the tendency to neutralize these harmful chemicals before they can do any harm to the body. This capacity to neutralize toxins comes from the presence of beneficial polyphenols in the red wine.
You must remember that it’s the presence polyphenols in red wine that helps digestion, not the alcohol content. Alcohol does not necessarily have any beneficial effect on digestion, but can curb the digestive process when taken in excess.
Also note that white wine is not as beneficial as red wine when it comes to helping with digestion. This way red wine also helps in losing weight.
Other health benefits of red wine
The role of red wine in aiding digestion is in itself a big plus point, but that’s not all. There are several other benefits of drinking wine, in moderation, owing to the presence of compounds like resveratrol and anti-oxidative polypenols. Here a list of the various health benefits of drinking red wine.
• Red wine helps regulate the cholesterol levels in the blood, by reducing the low density lipo protein (bad cholesterol) and increasing the high density lipo protein (good cholesterol).
• Drinking wine helps prevent the formation of plague, or blockage, along the arteries and thus protects against cardiovascular diseases.
• A research conducted in Japan, suggests that drinking red wine in moderation can help treat impotence.
• Red wine is a mild sedative and can help people with nervous disorders, or those who suffer from anxiety and stress. It can also help you sleep better, when taken in moderation.
• The presence of anti-oxidative compounds in red wine helps prevent cancer formation, by neutralizing dangerous free radicals in the body.
Can you lose weight by drinking wine? A glass of red wine contains close 100 calories, and there is no such thing as a diet wine, so red wine for weight loss is not really a reality, but as mentioned above, red wine is excellent for controlling your blood cholesterol levels and protects you from the hazardous effects of “fried” foods.
Who hasn’t heard of the “French Paradox”? The French are notorious for their consumption of food rich in fat content but have reported very low rates of coronary disease, and in fact are known to be a very healthful community. The secret to their health was found to be their habit of drinking red wine on daily basis.
Red wine has been known to be a medical aid to the body even back in the ancient ages. Hippocrates, who lived around 450 B.C, is known to have documented the use of red wine for several curative purposes including treatment of digestive disorders and as a diuretic. It’s great to have such a delicious beverage be a healthy addition to our diet. I for one needed no scientific evidence to prove the health benefits of red wine, my gut intuition was clear about it the moment I took my first sip.
5 Benefits Of Drinking Wine
There is much more to wine than being a drink to enjoy. There is more than the rich tastes and the variety of the culture of wine. You have likely heard that science is starting to take an interest in wine because it can actually be healthy to include wine in your daily diet.
Studies are ongoing, but preliminary results shown favorable upon wine as being something that should be included in the diet of people who wish to avoid common diseases and problems associated with aging. In fact, many doctors even recommend to patients that adding a glass of wine with dinner is not something you should be ashamed of, but rather something you should be doing.

Wine contains anti-bacteria agents and something called procyanidins that both work in wonderful ways in your body to help improve your health. Wine also, being an alcohol, helps to thin blood and let it flow more smoothly through your body. These factors create many benefits that you experience just from drinking wine.

Five of the benefits that you get from drinking wine are outlined below.

1. Good heart health. Wine is good for the heart because it helps to thin our blood which allows the heart to work a little less. Additionally, studies have shown that people who consume wine in moderate amounts have lower occurrences of heart disease and other heart problems then people who do not drink wine.

2. Lowers risk for diabetes. Studies have shown that drinking wine helps to reduce the risk for developing diabetes. The make up of the wine and its alcohol base help to extend the function of the pancreas and sweep glucose from the body, allowing a person to avoid diabetes onset later in life.

3. Lowers risk for stroke. Just as wine helps with heart disease it helps prevent stroke. The thinning of the blood helps to prevent clots that lead to stroke.

4. Lowers risk for cataracts. Studies have shown that wine helps to prevent cataracts. More studies are needed to determine why, but it has been shown in study after study that people who drink wine regularly have a lower occurrence for cataracts.

5. Lengthens life. Wine has been shown to help lengthen your life. With all of the health benefits it is no wonder that drinking wine will help you to live longer. Wine has been shown to help slow down the aging of the brain and therefore allow better brain function longer.

Wine lovers will rejoice when all these studies are completed and finally prove that wine is good for you. The one thing, though, that should be noted about the benefits of wine is that these benefits have only been shown to outweigh the negative effects of alcohol consumption when wine is drank in moderation.

Excessive use of wine can lead to problems with the liver and other health issues associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Usually a glass of wine a day is enough to reap the benefits and avoid the problems.
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By Caroline Silverstone

The Health Advantages of Drinking Wine
One of the questions asked most frequently by my patients is whether wine is good for them. There is much controversy surrounding this subject lately and this is why. While research supports the benefits of drinking wine, particularly red, it also points out that heavy drinking will conversely be detrimental.
So when I am asked that question I explain that wine can be good for you in moderation and as part of an overall healthy diet. In other words the amount of wine you drink matters tremendously. If you 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. And no you cannot save up the one or two drinks per day and have them all on the weekend!
Why all the curiosity about wine's health benefits in the first place? The intrigue started in the 90's when baffled researchers launched a study of French people, trying to determine why they were not suffering from more heart attacks with diets so high in cheese fats.
The findings showed that it was due to their moderate and steady intake of wine. Long after this discovery, a bevy of research continued to support drinking wine for good health. The first studies show great health benefits from the healing powers of resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red grape skins and therefore in red wine. But now they're also finding just as many benefits from white wines.
All kinds of new findings are cropping up on a daily basis. Take a look at some of the most recent studies that boast the health advantages of wine:
Overall Health Benefits:
Anti-aging effects in red grape skins (Harvard Medical School in Boston, 2004) Reduced risk of death from nearly all causes: According to studies from France, UK, Finland and Denmark, moderate consumption of wine is more beneficial than that of beer or spirits. Kidney stones: Red wine intake reduces the risk of kidney stone formation. Cancer cells killed by protein in red grape skins (University of Virginia Health System, 2004)
Heart Health Benefits:
Scientists believe the red wine reduces the risk of coronary heart disease by reducing production of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and boosting high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Coronary heart disease reduced (University of California, Davis, 1995) Arteries kept clean by polyphenols in red grape skins (William Harvey Research Institute, 2002) Atherosclerosis: Red wine may prevent the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis (hardening or "furring" of the arteries). Both the alcohol and polyphenols in the red wine appear to favorably maintain healthy blood vessels by promoting the formation of nitric oxide (NO), the key chemical relaxing factor that plays an important role in the regulation of vascular tone.
Women's Health Benefits:
Decreased ovarian cancer risk (The Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia, 2004) Stronger bones (Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St. Thomas' Hospital in London, 2004) Lower risk of stroke (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001)
Men's Health Benefits:
Lower risk of heart attack for men with high blood pressure (Worcester Medical Center in Massachusetts, 2004) Hypertension: There is some evidence of favorable effects of red wine on blood pressure. Two glasses of red wine (250 ml); taken together with the meal, lower post-meal blood pressure in hypertensive perrsons.
It's great to discover that something you enjoy could actually be healthy. However, I do not recommend that my patients over indulge just because the news is good. A word of caution worth repeating; overdoing anything is a recipe for disaster and can lead to even bigger health issues". That said, go ahead and enjoy your glass of wine tonight knowing that it is a healthy choice of beverage!
Mark Rosenberg, M.D. Institute For Healthy Aging

Benefits of Drinking Red Wine
If you consume in moderation, there are many benefits of drinking red wine.
Red wine has many health benefits.
It's About the Grapes
When it comes to the health benefits of drinking red wine, it really is all about the grapes. Grapes are full of nutrients and vitamins that benefit the body in a number of ways, such as:
• Vitamin B6 - This vitamin helps to prevent arterial plaque build up
• Vitamin C - Helps to protect the immune system
• Manganese - Aids the body in converting fat into energy
• Potassium - An electrolyte that helps to regulate blood pressure
Red wine is also high in polyphenolic flavonoids, most often referred to as antioxidants, which have a huge number of health benefits.
Why Red Wine?
Red wine has more health benefits than white simply due to the fact that the grape skins are left on during the fermentation process. The skins and seeds of grapes actually have the most nutritional value. Since the skins are removed during the white wine making process, white wine does not have as strong of health benefits as red. So, what exactly are the benefits of drinking a glass or two of wine a day? Keep reading, you might be surprised.
Red Wine Benefits
Red wine benefits the heart in many different ways. The polyphenolic flavonoids in red wine are what benefit the heart the most.
Cardiovascular Benefits
Various studies have shown the following benefits red wine has on the body:
• Raises HDL - This is what's considered the "good" cholesterol in your body.
• Lowers LDL - Often referred to as the "bad" cholesterol in the body.
• Helps to prevent blood clots
• Helps to prevent plaque build up - Working along with vitamin B6, the antioxidant properties of the flavonoids help to prevent plaque build up on the arterial walls.
Anti Viral Properties
Due to antioxidants like reseveratrol, catechin and gallic acid, studies have shown that red wine has anti-viral properties and even help to prevent certain forms of cancer tumor growth. The science behind this is relatively simple. The antioxidants, especially reseveratrol, is contained in plants and is basically a plants defense system against disease. These antioxidants, especially resveratrol, fight the free radicals that cause cell damage and cancerous tumor growth. More research is currently being conducted on the cancer fighting properties of the antioxidants contained in red wine.
Mental Function
Not only does red wine benefit the heart and cardiovascular system, it also benefits the brain. The antioxidants in wine help to prevent plaque build up on the arteries in the brain, which is one of the causes of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Studies have shown that consuming one glass of red wine for women and no more than two glasses of red wine a day, helped to reduce the risk of developing both dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Caffeic Acid
The anti-oxidant caffeic acid found in wine has been shown to help reduce glucose levels in the blood. Caffeic acid also helps to reduce inflammation in the body, which is a huge benefit to those suffering from inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. In preliminary studies, this acid has also shown inhibit and reduce the damage caused by colitis.
A Mild Warning
Though there are plenty of benefits to drinking a glass of two of red wine a day, doctors and scientists alike warn people that the key to receiving the benefits is moderation. Once you go over the recommended one or two glasses, the negative effects of alcohol begin to overcome the positive effects of the wine. These risks include, but are definitely not limited to:
• Liver damage - Over time, alcohol severely damages the liver and can lead to many other conditions and diseases.
• Alcohol addiction - Consider your risk factors before you begin drinking a glass of wine or two a day. The risks may outweigh the benefits. If that's the case for you, you can usually receive the same benefits of drinking red wine by drinking the non-alcoholic version.
• Intoxication - Consuming alcohol faster than your body can process it leads to becoming intoxicated, which, at its simplest is basically, poisoning the body.
So, as always, imbibe on your favorite glass of red wine in moderation.

Benefits of Drinking Wine
Benefits of Drinking Red wine
Although too much intake of wine is harmful for health but no wine does no good to it. Moderate quantities of wine intake makes a person feel relaxed of his daily stress and strain. The special benefits of red wine increases both physical and sexual life of a person.
Red wine is a health drink that prevents our body from various diseases rather than curing them. Red wine contains the highest quantities of Resveratrol and Polyphenols, that work together to increase life expectancy and produce long lasting benefits for health. These include:
1. Red wine protects against cancer.
The continuous chain of biochemical reactions taking place in the human body results in the formation of many products and by products that have a toxic effect on the system. It is therefore necessary to remove these substances from the body from time to time. Some of these are so harmful that they react with antioxidants present in the body and get converted into other compounds. Red grapes from which red wine is made contains high quantities of flavonoids, an antioxidant. Red wine gives strong defense against risk of growth of cancer. It also offers the protection that is required for prevention of various kinds of cancer. But those who are at the genetic risk of developing breast cancer reconsider consuming red wine.
2.Prevents Heart diseases
The high content of flavinoids, an antioxidant lowers the blood pressure and reduces the amount of bad cholesterol in the body. It thus prevents the person from the risk of Heart diseases. In fact, red wine is said to reduce the chances of heart related diseases by forty percent.
3. Helps in reducing stress
The immense competition in all fields of life today has made stress a common problem of the day. It not only reduces the immunity of the body and makes it prone to various diseases but also leads to other problems like insomnia. The best way to get relieved from stress and calm down is by taking a glass of wine every day.
4. Helps in treatment of Arthritis
Arthritis cannot be cured completely but intake of anti inflammatory drinks and foods can relieve the sufferers from pain. This helps in reducing inflammation and thus reduces pain. Reduction in pain increases the patient’s flexibility and capacity to exercise and get better. Resveratrol- the antioxidant present in red wine is capable of bringing the inflammation to an end. This special benefit makes it useful for curing inflammation related to arthritis, diabetes and irritable bowel syndrome.
5. Makes sex enjoyable
Red wine makes a person get relaxed from stress and makes sex more enjoyable.
Wine is a drink that has multiple health benefits. Apart from this it helps in making life and sex enjoyable. Many eatables can be enjoyed the most when accompanied with red wine. So it can be called a key your health, taste, longevity and sex. Although there are many benefits in drinking wine, too much intake of wine may out weigh the benefits and harmful for your health.