Honestly, Is Wine Good For You?
The conversation over wine having potential health benefits dates back at least to the late 1980s, early 1990s. As a kid, I remember unwinding on the couch at night, with a family TV show. I would braid my mom’s hair while she sipped a glass of red wine saying, ‘Red wine is good for you'. I fondly relive that as a core memory from my childhood. BUT, my mom may have been missing a key element with her consumption of red wine - She wasn’t sipping it with food.
Is wine a toxin or does it potentially contribute to our overall health and lifespan?
The French Paradox
For years, Americans have been scratching their heads. The French eat a high-fat diet of cheese, croissants, duck fat, etc and yet they are often at a healthy weight and appear to live longer than us by 2-4 years. Oh yeah and toss in more cigarettes too. Back in the late 1990s, there was a 60 Minutes episode that would influence Americans as much as the movie Sideways killed Merlot. If you remember, this show was religiously watched back then. In fact, my mom was probably watching this show while I was braiding her hair. In this iconic episode, French researcher Serge Renaud, Ph.D. conveyed his research findings on the French vs. American cultures - with half the rate of heart disease (143 vs. 315 per 100,000 middle-aged men) and a lifespan of 2.5 years longer, it had to be due to the red wine they were consuming. From this episode, it was basically inferred that wine would improve cardiovascular health.
Since then, a number of reputable sources have deemed this argument of wine improving your heart’s strength to be weak. And so the controversy has developed over time. This year, The World Health Organization went as far as claiming that no amount of alcohol is safe for your health. Ouch. That one stung a little. BUT, there is another side to this story. Professor Ramon Estruch, President of the Foundation for Wine and Nutrition Research (FIVIN), has spent years studying the impacts of wine with food and states: “Drinking gin outside of meals is not the same as drinking wine with meals." Dare I say that we consider wine differently than other forms of alcohol? Especially when paired with food.
The magic of The French Paradox may be the fact that sipping wine in moderation with meals allows their culture to eat slower and digest differently. Wine WITH food potentially has different health implications. I have been fortunate enough to spend time observing the culture in various towns across France. Small villages, big cities, you name it. Wine is on most tables at cafes. The food is served in modest portions and they are camped out at their table for quite some time. Think about it, there is a good amount of acidity in wine. It’s not easy to gulp. And that acidity binds with your food to encourage slower bites, eating appropriate portions, and digesting slower.
Going further on the potential benefits of wine WITH food…
The Mediterranean Diet
For the 7th year in a row, US News & World Report has deemed the Mediterranean diet to be the healthiest in the world. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, olives, etc. And someone finally took the initiative to study how wine with food might have health benefits.
Let’s expand further on Professor Estruch and his findings from years of clinical research. This Barcelona-based not-for-profit has been dedicated to understanding the impact of wine on health since 1992. His clinical research cited in an article posted a few weeks ago, supports the notion that, “Around “20% of the effects of the Mediterranean diet have to be attributed to wine”. Interestingly, the alcohol helps unlock special polyphenols present in wine AND the olive oil, nuts, etc. The combination of wine with food is much more powerful than just the food alone. Wine with food in moderate amounts appears to lower oxidative stress and inflammation in the body.
Jancis Robinson is one of the most famous wine writers and critics in the world. She even provided recommendations for the late Queen Elizabeth to build her wine cellar. She is healthy as an ox at 74 years old and drinks wine with her husband every day. I love her comment on what types of wine she prefers to drink, “There's no one thing. The joy of wine is the tremendous variety.” This is a woman who sits back, relaxes, and allows the joy of wine to lower her stress at the end of the day.
We could all read articles daily that either support or refute whether wine is healthy for us or not. But let me leave you with one consideration: If you're drinking a moderate amount with meals, isn't the pleasure of each glass, the leisurely pace of the meal, and the meaningful conversation sparked by that bottle contributing immensely to your happiness and health?
Articles Referenced and Worth a Read:
https://winefolly.com/lifestyle/french-paradox-diet/
https://www.meiningers-international.com/wine/insights/research-shows-wine-enhances-impact-mediterranean-diet
