Healthy Happy Chaos

Wine – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

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Start the day with a smile and finish it with a glass of wine!

-Anonymous

Vino, Wein, Vin, Ardoa, Wine. Doesn’t matter what you call it, I will always be the first one to tell you that I enjoy a good glass of wine at the end of a long or stressful day (which happens more often than I like). I always wondered if there was any truth behind the saying that a glass of wine a day is actually good for you. Well, what better time to actually do some research than now. I agreed to host a Traveling Wines tasting party here is a about a week and a half. So, I let the inner nerd in me out and began browsing for credible information on wine. As I started researching this one I quickly came to the conclusion as with anything health related it becomes purely a matter of opinion. We will find the right research that supports what we want to believe so that when others question us we can quickly provide them with supporting evidence that what we think is actually true.

Basic wine 101, it is made from fermented grape juice. Simple right? Well there are a few more things needed such as yeast, sugar, water, sodium metabisulfite (apparently this is used to disinfect and sterilize winemaking equipment and added to wine to fight off bacteria. Who knew?), tannin, pectin enzyme, finings, acid blend, and additives. Oh, and there are easily 10 thousand plus different types of wines in the world. All depends on location/region, ingredients (grapes/apples/strewberries, etc), season, and time. Some of my personal favorites aren’t even made with grapes!

Ok so what makes it “healthy”? I mean, seriously. If you are going to tell me something like alcohol is actually good for me and can help me out with my health and wellness goals, I say “Let’s do this!” There are a number of articles that discuss the ‘fact’ that red wine has antioxidants and resveratrol. All good for the heart and cholesterol buildup. The polyphenols in wine help protect the blood vessel lining in your heart. And apparently that resveratrol is a great protector in your body. It helps to protect against blood vessel damage, helps prevent blood clots, and even helps to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (this is the cholesterol that we are always hearing about that is bad). Hmmmmm, so you are saying the more wine I drink the more resveratrol I get which will help my heart? Ok, I’m sold! LOL. Oh how I wish that were the truth. In fact, you would have to drink quite a few glasses of wine in order to get the amount needed to truly do any good. I know, I know. But you know what? I did find one study that drinking 13.5 ounces of red wine daily does increase your antioxidant status. I mean, who couldn’t use a few more antioxidants, right?

So, I also found a number of articles and studies that showed the benefits to your mental health with light to moderate wine consumption. In my book that is a total win! Now, that is not saying you should start drinking right away to help yourself mentally. There is a fine line between occasional drinking and starting to slide down that slippery slope. I am one who believes that if you come home most nights saying you NEED a drink then you may want to find another outlet. It can have a calming affect which helps when it feels like your mind may explode with all the happenings of the day. I also found that there can be a small improvement in your cognitive performance with a little wine, but I haven’t been able to find a good study that proves that. If any of you have one or can find one let me know please! There is also some Australian studies that state small amounts of wine can possibly reduce depression symptoms. Alcohol was the one thing I stayed away from during my depression/anxiety episodes, so I cannot speak to the truth of that one.

Now, what I found on the not so good things associated with wine drinking and your health. Did you know that alcohol in general jacks up your gut, and I am here to tell you that there is so much that goes on with you mentally, physically, emotionally, inside and out that stems from your gut health. Over the past three years I have learned that taking care of your gut first and foremost will set you up for success with a lot of your ailments. So, naturally I researched a bit more on the gut and what happens. I actually found a fantastic study on the connection between polyphenols in red wine and gut microbiota. Done enough school over the past 30 years that I know how to find appropriate references 🙂

Who doesn’t like a good diagram picture?

What I also found with all my researching is that with all the positive I could find when it comes to drinking wine there, of course, was negatives. Not all wines are created the same which means that the level of all the antioxidants and resveratrol are going to vary. There are also plenty of wines out there that are loaded with sugar, which is a whole other topic that we can address later.

Ok so what else can wine do that isn’t so good for our health? Well there is the possibility to not absorb the vitamins that wine has to offer and there is unfortunately the chance of creating a leaky gut or permeability. I know, I know. I just mentioned that it can help the gut, but everyone’s bodies react differently to different things. That is truly the sucky part about anything health and nutrition. There is no one size fits all approach at all! My husband can have gluten no issues, but the minute I have a sandwhich with bread I become bloated fairly quickly. There are differencing of opinions on the affects wine has on inflammation in the body. Some studies have shown that wine can actually reduce inflammation when the intake is between light to moderate. Other studies have shown that wine actually increase the inflammation. Weight gain is always a negative factor when it comes to drinking alcohol. This comes along with the number of calories in wine along with the number of calories you are likely to intake when drinking. I mean, how many times have you found yourself drinking and snacking. It happens.

Ok, ok. So we see that wine can have a good and bad affect on your gut, immune system, heart, and mental health, but have you ever heard that you show what you eat and drink on your skin? It’s so true! Obviously everyone’s bodies are different when it comes to how they will react with the various foods, but most of us start to see things through our face when we over indulge. First, alcohol in general can dehydrate you which in turn shows on your face. Your skin looks and feels drier and you tend to get that worn down look about you. Studies also show that it dilates the pores which in turn causes you to have more blackhead/whiteheads turning into breakouts. Plus I know quite a few people who start to get that redness in their faces once they start drinking alcohol. But guess what? Red wine is at the top of the list as least offensive to the skin! What?!

Hmmm, so basically what I have found is that wine in moderation isn’t bad for you, but if it isn’t something you already drink regularly then don’t start just to gain the health benefits because they aren’t totally worth it. Doesn’t seem too bad, right? And did you notice I said red wine a lot? Well that’s because red wines are typically going to be the better options with more antioxidants and less of the crap (ie. sugar, etc). This is due to the skin staying on during the red wine making process but not during the white wine making process (who knew?). The final bit of info that kept coming up is a good rule of thumb: “Drink alcohol in moderation- that means one to two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women. One drink is one 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80 proof spirits, or 1 ounce of 100 proof spirits.” I know that may not be what we want to hear or abide by, but at least we have a starting point.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this post. I am working on my content and hope that this post was more informative and gave you a little insight as to how I work to balance my day to day choices on my path to a healthier and happier me.

Mommasaurus2

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