Many of us have heard the claim that drinking red wine can actually be healthy, but how much is healthy? This claim first came to light a decade or so ago when a prominent doctor espoused the use of red wine to reduce heart disease giving the example of the low incidence of heart disease in people in France even though they eat very high fat diets but drink red wine with many meals.
First let’s look at what is at the root of hear disease in the first place. The disease is created by cholesterol building up in the arteries. This cholesterol comes from two places, our diet and from our own bodies. Some people have a natural predisposition to creating more cholesterol than others. When the arteries experience this blockage the heart is robbed of needed oxygen and can be damaged.
So how do red wines help with this problem? Well, according to many medical studies it has been shown that a moderate intake of no more than two glasses of red wine a day can actually reduce the risk of a heart attack by as much as fifty percent. The studies also indicated that he consumption of moderate amounts of the beverage can even help to circumvent future heart attacks even after you have already had one.
To understand how wine helps in this area it is necessary to know the difference in types of cholesterol. Low density lipo-protein the so-called “bad” cholesterol or LDL for short is the one that blocks arteries and causes us all the problems. The presence of high density lipo-proteins or HDL cleans the bad out and reduces the instances of blockage. The way red wine helps in this area is by increasing the HDL and creating more of a balance as well as having a blood thinning effect similar to the intake of aspirin.
It has been known for quite some time in the nutritional community that wine is rich in vitamins and minerals as well as in natural sugars that have been shown to be of importance in maintaining good health. Wine is also high in potassium which has been shown to be good for the heart as well as being rich in Vitamin B. The main reason that red wines have more of these nutrients than other wines is due to the process of making red wine which requires the grape juice to remain in contact with the skins of the grapes longer which is where the majority of the nutrients are.
Wine is also known to have a calming effect on the body when taken in moderation and can aid in sleeping which is also beneficial to overall health.
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