Red Wine May Have Health Benefits

By Zigfred Diaz

A saying once said "An apple a day keeps the doctors away." However, due to recent studies it now says "A glass of wine keeps the doctors away."

The news is true and medical journals, the media and even some wine companies have spread this "good news" to wine lovers around the globe. The use of red wine for health benefits is not new. In fact for the last 5000 years, wine was also used to medically treat people. Wine's medical usage ranged from being an antiseptic, a tranquilizer or sedative, or a hypnotic to being a medicine for curing stomach pains. But even before you get crazy over this or justify your thirst for alcohol take into consideration the below mentioned points:

1.) The wine used by researchers for their study was red wine and it is in red wine they have found the health benefits. What makes red wine special is that it is also made up using the grape's skin and seeds. A quick comparison of other wines, one can find that red wine contains the highest antioxidant, which can fight cancer. Aside from this, red wine also contains "Resveratrol", which has been proven to help clear deposits in the arteries thus avoiding future heart diseases.

2.) Drinking red wine in excess can increase the risk of high blood pressure, and likely damage to the heart, liver, kidneys and brain. Researchers recommend that a person only consume two standard glasses of red wine per day to avoid further health complications.

3.) As red wine gets more expensive the more it contains antioxidants and Resveratrol. Why? Simply because the expensive red wines have richer grape fruits.

4.) Exercise and drinking red wine should go together. An issue of Time Magazine revealed "people who don't drink at all and don't exercise had the highest risk of heart disease. People who drink moderately and exercise had a 50% lower risk. People who exercised but did not drink wine had a 30% decreased risk, as did moderately drinking couch potatoes."

5.) Take into consideration whatever health issues you may have and your age before starting to drink red wine. The same study mentioned above showed that alcohol cannot do "any coronary good until you reach the age at which heart disease becomes an appreciable risk." It was further illustrated "there is absolutely no proof of a preventative and protective effect before age 45." Furthermore, younger women are not advised to drink red wine even in moderation since it would only increase the risk of breast cancer and can heighten alcoholism to those who have a family history of it. - 31977

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