My new year resolution is to add wine to my "health food" list and honestly I am going to stick to it…

My resolutions are always based on reward system, by adding something positive to create positive results. Wine has been an important part of my life for many years. But the intent of this resolution is to have wine moderately and regularly, with consideration to its benefits, locating as much supporting medical evidence as possible.

Wine and Health ... benefits are not without cautions…
The medical profession has recognized the healthful and nutritive properties of wine for thousands of years. Hippocrates recommended specific wines to purge fever, disinfect and dress wounds, as diuretics, or for nutritional supplements, around 450 B.C. A French doctor wrote the earliest known printed book about wine around 1410 A.D.

Most of the pathogens that threaten humans are inhibited or killed by the acids and alcohols in wine. Because of this, wine was considered to be a safer drink than much of the available water up until the 18th century.

Wine is a mild natural tranquilizer, serving to reduce anxiety and tension. As part of a normal diet, wine provides the body with energy, with substances that aid digestion, and with small amounts of minerals and vitamins. It can also stimulate the appetite. In addition, wine serves to restore nutritional balance, relieve tension, sedate and act as a mild euphoric agent to the convalescent and especially the aged.

French Parodox
Red wine has long been touted as heart healthy. Some have suggested that the apparent health benefits of red wine, namely reducing your risk of heart disease, are behind the so-called French paradox. The French are regular drinkers of red wine and have relatively high amounts of saturated fat in their diet. Despite this fat intake, the French have lower rates of heart disease.

How does wine help the heart?
Since it has been proven that stress is the precursor to many diseases and health concerns, it seems that taking that extra time to relax and enjoy is an obvious health benefit.

Alcohol facts
Women's limit - 14 units per week
Men's limit - 21 units per week
1 unit of alcohol = 1 small glass of wine, half a pint of normal strength lager or beer or 1 measure of spirits

Some heart healthy benefits of wine includes
* Raises high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the “good” cholesterol
* Lowers blood pressure
* Inhibits the formation of blood clots
* Helps prevent artery damaged by high levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the ‘bad’ cholesterol

Other benefits which I enjoy
* There is an increased enjoyment of the entire dining experience.
* Foods tasted better with the addition of wine.
* Certain wines evoked pleasant memories of places visited.
* Dinners were more relaxed, thoughtful, and conversational with the ceremony of presenting, opening, pouring, and enjoying wines with family and friends

Regular & Moderate
Regular moderate wine drinking was discovered to be one prominent factor. Studies in England and Denmark found the occurrence of coronary disease to be much higher in heavy or binge drinkers and (surprise!) even higher in abstainers.

Anti-Cancer & Coronary Benefits
There are compounds in grapes and wine called flavanoids, resveratrol and quercetin. Clinical and statistical evidence and laboratory studies have shown these to boost the immune system, block cancer formation, and possibly protect against heart disease and even prolong life. One recent study indicates that resveratrol also inhibits formation of a protein that produces a condition called cardio fibrosis, which reduces the heart's pumping efficiency when it is needed most, at times of stress. More evidence suggests that wine dilates the small blood vessels and helps to prevent angina and clotting. The alcohol in wine additionally helps balance cholesterol towards the good type.

Would you like to stay younger?
A Harvard study of factors that influence aging, as reported in the May 8, 2003, issue of the journal Nature, has shown that resveratrol extends the life span of yeast cells by 80%. Preliminary results of tests on multi cellular animals are said to be encouraging; study co-author David Sinclair told Reuters News Agency "Not many people know about it yet, but those who do have almost invariably changed their drinking habits, that is, they drink more red wine."

Several European studies have shown the prophylactic effects of regular light to moderate alcohol consumption may include the prevention or postponement of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other forms of dementia. Could wine be the original brain food?

Bottom Line
Over 400 studies worldwide, many of them long-term and in large populations, have concluded that most healthy people who drink wine regularly and moderately live longer. The single group exception, whose members should not consume any alcohol, is pre-menopausal women with a family history of breast cancer. The keys to the beneficial aspects are regularity and moderation. Overindulgence can be considerably more harmful than total abstinence.

THE HEART-HEALTHY, "MEDITERRANEAN" DIET
• light to moderate wine-drinking (one or two glasses a day)
• low in red meat
• low in lard or butter, higher in olive oil
• high in fish
• high in cheese, low in whole milk
• high in bread, fruits and vegetables

Dr.Shirish (M.S.) Hiremath
Director - Ruby Hall Clinic,Pune

Source: http://www.punepages.com/blogs/1390/wine-a-day%E2%80%A6.-good-for-health