Health Food Hoaxes: Is Red Wine Really Good For You?

For many years now the buzz all over the Internet and news media has been that “red wine is good for you”. You often hear people say, “I have a glass of wine or two before bed and it relaxes me”. Of course it relaxes you it is a sedative. Or you may hear them say, “I have a bad heart and my doctor told me that having a glass of wine or two is good for my heart rate”.

One thing is true, red grapes are powerful nutritional boosters and are loaded with antioxidants that slow down the aging process when eaten with other antioxidant type foods and on a consistent basis. But is wine created from grapes (really) good for you? Absolutely not!

                       BIG Mouse, Little Mouse

Scientists have been ranting and raving about the anti-aging agent found in red grapes called Resveratrol; it has been proven that resveratrol prevents disease and aging in mice; And well, wouldn’t you know it, red wine contains this anti-aging property, resveratrol and so doctors and scientists are reveling about this agent found in grapes and pushing people to drink wine for their health!

Question: how big is a mouse compared to the human body? How much wine do you think you will have to drink to get the same anti-aging effects and disease prevention like the wee little mousy? The amount of wine you would have to drink, to receive any health value from the grapes, far exceeds the legal limit; and by then it surely would be counterproductive on your health since alcohol abuse is the cause of many health ailments, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.



 Pass it on: Even small amounts of alcohol up the risk of dying from cancer. 



All this attention to drink wine to our health is absurd! It seems like a very ill-advised way to remain healthy. Whatever happened to good old eating nutritious food and exercise? At least there are no risks!
 

     Antioxidant Foods Good for Heart Health
 

Did you know it is in the seeds and skin of the grapes where the agent resveratrol is found?  What about just eating red grapes every morning for breakfast?  Will that work? Of course it will work! There are numerous natural foods that have an anti-aging properties in them with the same antioxidant effect as resveratrol? Let us name just a few:

Kale, almonds, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, broccoli, apples, spinach, cabbage, strawberries, pomegranates, avocados, peanuts, alfalfa sprouts, brussel sprouts, seaweed, garlic, and sweet potatoes! And there’s more, we just wanted to name a few!

Numerous studies have been done on red wine and its effects on health and there is little evidence proving that drinking wine aids in health. One such study done by the British Medical Association closely examined  52,891 adults who were interviewed about their drinking habits and the study showed no health benefits of drinking red wine.
Source: http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h384
 

Sure, having one drink may lower stress levels but the problem with that is a person reaches for alcohol to relieve their daily stress and it becomes a crutch for them, that without it they feel they wouldn’t get through the day, or be able to fall asleep without their “relaxing drink of red wine”. 

For much of the population, drinking any amount of alcohol is a disaster waiting to happen, as many folks are susceptible to becoming alcoholics if they are not careful.  Doctor’s subscribing alcohol prescriptions for their patients is like playing Russian roulette with their life!

Even if red wine has some nutritional qualities why would anyone want to take the risk of over-doing it and becoming an alcoholic, not to mention what it does to a person’s physical and emotional health? Alcoholism is an insidious addiction, and may start out with having only one drink to relax and then pretty soon, the drinker needs two drinks to relax, and three, four, five…and what about the negative effects of any other ingredient or in any unnatural processing of “red wine”? Not all “red wines” are made the same.

It’s not like we aren’t speaking from the voice of experience. Being a recovering alcoholic myself, (Angie sober for 22 years) we both know how it grabs hold of your life blood and doesn’t let go, sadly in many cases.  Not only that, but we have administered encouragement and guidance to couples since 2002 through our marriage ministry about addiction and alcoholism is at the top of the list of “core reasons” couples have marital troubles and divorce.
               Do Grapes and Grape Juice
                    Have Reserveratrol?



Resveratrol is a polyphenolic compound found in grapes, red wine, purple grape juice, peanuts, and some berries. 

Source: Oregon State University (OSU) Linus Pauling Institute - Micronutrient Research for Optimum Health

The seeds and the skins carry the most antioxidant properties and the skins of the grape is where resveratrol compound is found. But why is there not articles touting eating grapes and drinking grape juice? 

Red grapes just like many foods with antioxidant properties are excellent for our health as far as nutritional value, and eating red grapes three or more times a week may make your skin look better and may even make you feel better if you are already eating a good daily diet. But grapes alone are not going to prevent disease any more than drinking a glass or two of red wine each evening is.

The key to good health is lifestyle. To get positively healthy one must participate in good healthy choices, some of which are:  healthy eating habits and foods, exercise, natural stress relief, and something as simple as receiving adequate amounts of sunshine on the skin… and making these things regular way of life...drinking alcohol, no matter how little, is not the way.

Frank and Angie are lifelong natural health practitioners. They have overcome many difficult health situations naturally, alcoholism being one of them.  Alcoholism is a marriage/family condition because everyone the alcoholic is associated with is negatively affected by it in some way.  



Frank and Angie have been studying health and nutrition for over thirty years, and have taken their Better Health, Better Life seriously and are enjoying life abroad in their middle years with their three adult sons.
 

We're an Expat Family of Five, Living Frugal, Healthy and Happy in Cuenca Ecuador! Enjoy the Discover Cuenca Ecuador blog!