5 Health Reasons to Drink Wine

What? Health reasons to drink wine? Heck yeah, those are studies I can stand behind. To prove that this information is legitimate and I'm not just making it up for my own benefit (*cough* I would never invent information to allow me to drink more *cough*) I will include links to Harvard Health articles. I read several articles to pick my 5 reasons, but I will include just one link on each.

As a side note, these statistics only apply to a "moderate" amount. A "moderate" amount is defined as one glass a day. I know the word "moderate" is pretty relative, so I thought I should specify... Drinking more than a moderate amount frequently (i.e. 2-3 glasses a day) can increase your risks for many negative health situations.

1) Drinking red wine can reduce your risk of stroke. Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol can prevent blood from clotting. Red wine is the best choice because of a chemical in it called Resveratrol which is being studied as a possible supplement choice for protecting your brain.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2013/June/things-you-can-do-to-prevent-a-stroke

2) Drinking red wine can increase your "good" cholesterol and lower your blood pressure. Red wine is full of antioxidants which have beneficial effects on our body systems. This article I chose does praise red wine briefly for it's aid, but apparently touts the huge benefits of non alcoholic red wine. I've never heard of that, wouldn't it just be grape juice? I might have to look into this red wine substitute further.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/non-alcoholic-red-wine-may-lower-blood-pressure-201209125296

3) Drinking wine can decrease your risk for coronary disease. Between numbers one and two above wine does a pretty good job of reducing heart disease. Recent research has shown that other alcohols may also be beneficial, but many scientists still put red wine at the top followed by white wine.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Excerpt_from_Healthy_Women_Healthy_Lives_alcohol.htm

4) Wine promotes improved longevity. This is just a fancy way of saying it prevents several types of early deaths. Mostly heart related deaths such as heart attack. In theory by preventing early deaths you should be able to live longer.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2011/October/more-to-the-story-than-alcohol--heart-protection

5) Drinking wine can help prevent prostate cancer. Okay, this one isn't really for women, but it's hard work keeping our men healthy and happy. This is a good way to keep them both healthy and happy. My husband prefers this one over the cruciferous veggies I force down him, ha!

http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/prostate-benefits-from-red-wine

Well that's that. For the benefit of science and fairness I will also address one fairly big negative for women so you won't have rosé colored wine glasses (haha, you get it?)

Drinking moderately any type of alcohol can raise the risk of breast and colon cancer. This is a pretty important thing to point out. In order for you to determine how much you should drink for health reasons you should probably consider your family history and also consult the articles below.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/study-supports-alcohol-breast-cancer-link-201111033747
 http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2011/October/more-to-the-story-than-alcohol--heart-protection



Also, I must say this: If you value your longevity at all do not get behind the wheel after drinking. There you go, full disclosure.

I wish wine could be a magical cure for many ails, but I guess it's too good to be true *sigh*. I plan to continue to enjoy moderate amounts of wine! Speaking of which, do you ever cook with wine? I do sometimes, but it turns into a game of "a cup for the pan, a cup for me, a cup for the pan..."

What about you? Do you like the occasional glass of wine? What is your favorite? Do you worry about health risks?