Squeeze that Grape Juice
Wine has a great deal of health benefits and is appreciated by connoisseurs all year long. Wine does not have to have a label listing its ingredients or nutrition details under the regulations of the United States and this is how the wine industry prefers it. But there is a group that wants the regulations changed so that a label is listing nutrition facts available. This group’s insistence has caused the U.S. Department of Agriculture to collect the data to identify the nutritional information to be listed on typical wines.
The basic data collected for each wine type was the calorie count, alcohol content, levels of carbohydrates, cholesterol, sugars with minimal fat and fiber content. Researchers continued the investigation to find the insignificant amount of vitamin and mineral contents. The wines were found to be negligent in nutritional values, but the important wine value was found to be in health benefits.
Research has done a good job of documenting that moderate alcohol consumption has the positive action of reducing mortality by some thirty to fifty percent, and this is accomplished since alcohol has the anti-coagulating properties and side effects taking place with cholesterol. This demonstrates the ability to lower LDL (bad) and raises HDL (good) cholesterol. Alcohol has the ability to lower the risk of heart disease up to 50% and cancer risk is reduced by 24%. Health issues basically caused by stress can find some relief with consumption of wine. But, the bad side effects of alcohol have also to be considered and so one should limit oneself to one or two glasses of wine per day.
When one wants to produce red wine, it requires that the grape skins of the red, black or purple grapes are not removed from the fermentation process whereas, white wine is fermented without the skins of the green grapes. There are those that argue the red wine is preferred because they believe the majority of grape’s antioxidants were in the grape skins that were in the fermentation process. But more recent research data suggests that the pulp is just as heart-healthy and provides different types of antioxidants. This new data soundly supports the concept that white wine and red wine is very credible.
Wine does not contain the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E. But wine does contain the strongest natural antioxidants, resveratrol, quercetin, epicatechin, and the new member of this list is pterostilbene. Alcohol in the wine acts to enhance the absorption of the antioxidants and this improves the strength of the antioxidants. This makes the antioxidants five times stronger than Vitamin E. The total strength of the antioxidants works to boost the immune systems, retard the development of cancer and help to fight disease. Each wine has its own profile of antioxidants which is dependent on the type and quality of grapes used in the distillation process and the age of the wine. Generally red wines have higher content of the antioxidants. Yet, white wines are found to be higher in quality. Yes, we have to answer the question, what is better a greater quantity of antioxidant content or higher quality with less content? Actually, neither wine should be considered the best. There is more resveratrol and quercetin in the red wine. White wines have tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol. It is recognized that the quantity of one is equal to the quality of the other.
Ultimately, red wine and white wine have the same beneficial effect on the human body. Two thousand years ago the Greeks, with the leadership of Hippocrates, used wine to fight fever, disinfect wounds and use it to treat kidney problems. Today, we do not use wine for a medicine, but it still has many benefits and here are a few of those benefits: reducing risk of heart attack, strokes, ovarian cancer, high blood pressure, help clean out clogged arteries, ovarian cancer and diabetes. Research has shown wine can act to reduce inflammation and slow neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Also, it should be mentioned wine acts to help increase the body’s absorption of iron, increase bone strength, boost HDL cholesterol, and increase the blood circulation. In short, wine can help extend your life so long as it is used properly
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