Moderate Wine Drinking Reduces Your Tummy Pouch!

A recent study at the University of Buffalo found that drinking moderate amounts of wine reduced your levels of abdominal fat. Those who abstained, and those who binge drank, both had more ‘tummy pouch’ also known as “beer belly” than those who drank healthy amounts of wine each day. The fat in particular the study was testing is called “central adiposity” and is in essence abdominal fat - the tummy pouch. If you lie on your back, this is the tummy fat that sticks upwards and doesn’t slide to one side or another.

The study was done on 2,343 adults in all age ranges, both male and female. The results held for all of the groups. People who drank one or two glasses of wine a day had the smallest belly fat amounts. Those who binge drank (3-4 glasses at a time) or who didn’t drink at all had the pouch.
Note that those who drank hard alcohol had larger amounts of belly fat across the board. So it’s a glass of wine for your health!

Wine And Ulcer Prevention

A medical study done in 1999 helped to show how wine acts to prevent ulcers. The study included 1800 patients. For each patient, the scientists tested for the presence of helico bacterpylori, the organism which has been shown to cause ulcer infections. Compared to non-drinkers, those patients who had one glass of wine a day had 7% fewer of these ulcer-causing bacteria. Those who drink two glasses a day had 18% fewer bacteria. Those who drank 3 or more glasses had a full 1/3 fewer bacteria. However, because of the other medical issues caused by drinking that much wine, doctors recommend drinking 1-2 glasses each day.

Red Wine/Olive Oil...What Are They Good For? Absolutely Everything!!!

Drinking red wine and cooking with olive oil may help us to live longer. Many studies have shown that people living in Mediterranean countries like Spain and Italy live longer on average than people in other countries. Certain ingredients in both wine and olive oil significantly increase the lifespan of yeast. So what. Right. Wrong! Unbelievably, yeast and humans share many of the same genes, and scientists have speculated what's good for yeast can be good for humans. A polyphenol called resveratrol is abundant in red wine and gives the wine its anti-cancer and anti-heart disease properties. Quericetin, which is abundant in olive oil, has the same properties. Quercetin is also found in the skins of red apples and red onions. The antioxidants in wine and grape juice help the control of blood clotting that causes heart attacks and strokes; they help further by stopping the oxidation of LDL (the “bad”) cholesterol to its dangerous form. The antitoxins found in tea and chocolate work similar to those in red wine. A confirmed non-drinker might be inclined to ask, why not eat just fruits and veggies, and forget about alcohol?

To you non teetotalers, fear not.There are plenty of reasons to still enjoy a couple of glasses of your favorite wine. Alcohol, in moderation, contributes at least half of wine’s cardiovascular benefits, and likely provides numerous other health benefits, and little, if any, risk. In fact, it may even enhance the desired effects of the antioxidants in the enriching form of wine, which is a hand that can’t be beat.

The only fly in the ointment for us wine drinkers is the term moderation. By definition, moderation is within reasonable limits, not excessive or extreme. Is one glass, two or three extreme? Is your moderation level for drinking wine the same if you weigh 150 pounds as it is at 200 pounds? Is excessiveness measured the same for a female as it is for a male? People who take part in extreme sports such as sky diving and kite surfing don't consider them extreme sports. Within reasonable limits? In some areas, 55 is a reasonable speed limit and in others 65 is reasonable. No easy answer. Certainly a conundrum. It seems that a new study result comes out every other day. It's good---It's bad---Helps your heart---Lowers your cholesterol--Stops cancer, but remember always in moderation. A close friend of mine once said that all things should be done in moderation, including moderation.

Wine And Bad Breath

Research studies have concluded that both red and white wine stop bad breath. Well, perhaps not exactly. They did discover that they do help the prevention of Streptococci, a bacteria that can cause cavities, tooth decay and sore throats, including strep throat. The researchers removed all the alcohol from both wines to see if the other compounds in wine might attack the bacteria. The scientists warmed the eight strains of Streptococciu to body temperature and added the wine.The control group (no wine added) began to reproduce immediately and in five hours the bacteria had grown by an average of 15% The Streptococci treated with the wine not only did not produce, but also began to die. They discovered that organic acids in wine, some found in the grapes and the rest found in the secondary fermentation (malolatic) killed the bacteria. Add this to the positive results found previously that the resveratrol in red wine destroyed two types of bacteria that cause gum disease. Since gum desease can cause bad breath, ome may conclude that wine can stop bad breath.

Red Wine May Protect The Brain From Alcohol-Related Damage

How many times have you heard? Watch your drinking. You can’t afford to lose any more brain cells. I beg to differ! Scientists in Portugal found that rats given heavy amounts of red wine did not suffer memory damage as did the rats given pure alcohol. They feel that humans may experience similar benefits. Portuguese scientist theorized that if compounds found in red wine provided protection for other parts of the body then red wine may also protect parts of the brain as well. Their hypothesis was that the antioxidant polyphenols of wine can protect neurons from the damaging effect of alcohol contained in the wine; thereby slowing or preventing the development of functional disturbances in the brain.”
After exposing three groups of 12 rats to many varied experiments, the scientists discovered that rats from the red wine group performed memory reactions consistently as well as those drinking water only. The scientist believed that the high level of antioxidents found in red wine were responsible for protecting thebrain cells of the hippocampus (the area of the brain where oxidative stress occurs first. As with Alzheimer’s disease, damage to the hippocampus is demonstrated by one’s difficulty to find their way to familiar locations)

Wine And Renal Cancer

A team of researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston did 12 studies on more than 750,000 men and women. Those who had one alcoholic drink or more a day showed a 28 percent lower risk of renal cancer. Wine showed a slightly higher level of protection but the most important factor was the amount of consumption. Those who had a glass of wine a day showed an 18 percent lower risk of getting renal cancer, and those who drank two glasses of wine showed a 28 percent lower risk. The researchers added that alcohol may help improve insulin sensitivity and work as an antioxidant, thereby clearing out harmful and potentially cancer-causing elements in the organ. However, the researchers warned against consistent, heavier drinking.

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