Preventing Heart Disease in Women

Now add to that a 58% reduced risk of type II diabetes and a 50% reduced risk for blood clot related stroke and it starts to sound too good to be true, but in reality we have only scratched the surface of the benefits derived from this best kept secret for preventing heart disease in women. These lowered health risks do apply to men as well, it's just that they are enhanced for women.

Tonic

A tonic is taken on a daily basis and is preventive rather than curative, with the health advantages accruing over time.

This tonic to the entire metabolism actually slows the aging process and benefit's the whole body by working within the circulatory system, inhibiting plaque build-up and reducing the risk of developing atherosclerosis and peripheral artery disease.

You can lower your risk of heart disease by 50%
Add to that a 40% to 70% reduced risk of dementia
And a moderate 30% reduction of risk of cataracts

All this while lowering the risk of developing lung cancer by 56% and reducing your risk of being troubled with kidney stones by 59% compared with those who don't use this tonic.

Now you are beginning to get an idea of the scope and breadth of the health benefits derived from a simple daily dietary ritual.

To Good To Be True?

The original research that brought to light this tonic effect began in 1948 with an on-going project involving families in Framingham, Mass., USA, to study the development of cardiovascular disease over a period of time. By 1970 the Framingham Heart Study had singled out this tonic elixir and their findings were confirmed a decade on, in 1980, with results from the Honolulu Heart Study.

These findings languished for another decade until late 1991. This was the year that the show "60 Minutes" did an expose' about fatty, cholesterol laden diets and their drastically different effects on different cultures.

The American diet with its high content of LDL (bad) cholesterol, large amounts of fat and salt was equivalent to the diet of the French people. Oddly enough, the Americans had a heart disease rate that was not just more, but six times more than that of the French.

Mysterious Elixir

This French Paradox was solved when it was pointed out that the French drank wine daily as part of their diet and including the research results of the Framingham and Honolulu Heart studies, both showing a 50% reduced risk of heart disease that is directly related to the tonic effects of red wine, as compared with the health of total abstainers.

Documented and Confirmed

A late 1980's off-shoot of a comprehensive study started in 1976 by the Harvard University, School of Public Health, involving 122,000 nurses ranging in age from 30 to 55 years, called the Nurses Health Study (NHS). Phase 2 of the NHS involved another 120,000 women with an age range of 20 some years to 40 years and has now spanned almost two decades. By 1996, doctors at the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that drinking wine daily was one of the best ways to reduce the risk of heart attacks, achieve generally lower mortality rates and improve the basic health condition.

Along with re-confirming the already well established 50% reduced risk of heart disease the NHS found, in an investigation of 17 beverages (including wine, water, milk, coffee, tea and fruit juices), that the women who drank wine daily with their meals experienced a 59% reduced risk of developing kidney stones compared to women that did not drink.

It was also brought to light in the Nurses Health Study that women between the ages of 25 years and 42 years who drank wine daily, lowered their risk of developing Type II diabetes by 58% compared to the risks incurred by the teetotalers. To quote the Harvard authors of the NHS:

"For women as a group, light to moderate alcohol consumption offers significant survival advantages."

The January 26 edition of the British medical journal 'The Lancet'# from 2002 describes research on people 55 years and older that demonstrates how low levels of alcohol in the blood stream stimulates the release of the neuro-transmitter, acetylcholine (ACH), which has a positive effect on memory and learning. This age group had a 42% reduced risk of developing any type of dementia regardless of any other health factors.

These regular drinkers were found to have an amazing 70% reduced risk of vascular dementia compared with total abstainers. Even carriers of the gene variant Apo E4 (associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's) experienced a preventive, protective effect from daily alcohol intake.

The Journal of the American Medical Association# explained in 2001 that seniors of the average age of 74 years (regardless of their history of smoking or diabetes, blood pressure, age, race and other factors), that partake daily of two glasses of wine have their risk factor for heart failure reduced by over 45% of that of the risk factor for complete teetotalers.

Research results from the 12 year Copenhagen Heart Study# read this way:

"Our finding that only wine drinking clearly reduces both the risk of dying from cardiovascular & cerebrovascular disease and the risk of dying from other causes suggests that other, more broadly acting factors in wine may be present."

Chemistry

It is clear from the hundreds of comprehensive and thorough investigations by respected institutions that these beneficial effects are not derived just from the alcohol, or some ingredient in the wine (reservetol, polyphenols, flavinoids, etc.), not just from the wine itself, but results from the positive interaction of dry, red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Petite Syrah) combining with ingredients from a simple yet rich Mediterranean-style diet, twice daily. As a group of doctors from "The Lancet" expound;

"If wine is ever found to contain a constituent that is protective against cardiovascular disease, then we consider it almost a sacrilege that this constituent be isolated. The medicine is already in a highly palatable form."

Dosage

According to Paracelsus, a wise man and a physician who lived c.1550;

"Whether wine is a nourishment, a medicine or a poison is a matter of dosage."

Most of the studies were done with the amount of six ounces constituting a 'glass of wine'. One glass with lunch and one or two with a Mediterranean style dinner and you will be gaining the maximum health benefit available from red wine.

The returns diminish below that level of consumption and can become toxic, rather than beneficial, at levels much above three glasses a day.

The important thing to remember is that your wine should be taken with a meal to gain the advantage of the interaction between the components of the wine and those that make up the food. A sip or two before, a bit with the meal and some afterwards is the classic approach.

Wine consumption at this moderate level is also a natural stress-reducer which is a benefit to the heart, will ease hypertension, lower the blood pressure and is advantageous to the entire system#.

Heart Disease, Stroke and Hypertension

This is not just about the thoroughly documented benefits of red wine in preventing heart disease in women. This is about the endangered heart of every human being. In 2004, 1.2 million Americans were diagnosed with coronary heart disease and 700,000 people suffered strokes.

The disease atherosclerosis was responsible for over 600,000 deaths that same year. These numbers could be reduced considerably by taking into account one more important contributing factor to heart health, It effects women more than men and is daily salt consumption.

Two of the three major lifestyle decisions a woman can take to reduce her risk of heart disease are to drink dry, red wine regularly to reduce that normal intake of salt from the usual of around 9grams to 12grams per day to a more moderate level of 6grams per day.

New research-results from the AMA, mentioned in the Time magazine (on-line) for 3-14-09, show that even a reduction of one gram per day per person would have tremendous personal and public health implications.

Like wine, salt is beneficial to personal health in moderate amounts, but when salt is consumed at the levels common and sanctioned in this day and age it becomes toxic and contributes to hypertension, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke#. The trick here is to discover and avoid the salt that is found in large amounts in most processed foods, so read those labels and compare.

Portugal has the highest mortality rate from stroke in all of Europe, twice as high as neighboring Spain and three time that of France#. A bill placed before the parliament in Lisbon on March 13, 2009 has taken aim at the culprit, too much salt in the frequently consumed dietary staples, dried salted cod and breads with high levels of salt in the recipe. Salt intake per capita is about the same in the US as it is in Portugal.

Prevention

Taking into account a regular, daily intake of fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, olive oil, garlic, pasta and wine while lowering the salt consumption, there is one last, but not least, important contributor to a woman's heart health and that is regular exercise.

Notice how that word 'regular' keeps popping up? The key to preventing heart disease, is to regularly apply the principles of a moderate, healthy diet with wine and a moderate amount of exercise on a daily basis. They are tonic to the human, body and spirit.

On Feb. 15th 2009, Lori Mosca (the director of preventive cardiology at New York Presbyterian Hospital) was quoted in the US News and World Report# as saying;

"Women need to think prevention and recognize the warning signs. Unfortunately we're kind of where we were with heart disease a decade ago, we don't have the level of awareness that is optimal."

Lori Mosca gets the crown for 'Queen of Understatement'. Prevention starts in early adulthood, before any warning signs become evident and is as effective for young adults in their early twenties as it is for the middle aged and seniors.

The Big Secret

Why aren't these health benefits touted by the doctors and public health organization or at least the wine industry? The wine industry is restricted by law from referring to these legitimate advantages to the health and well-being of the general population. They tried to educate the public in 1991 but were quickly stopped.

If such a readily available, good for what ails you, palatable and inexpensive (compared to pharmaceuticals) addition to the daily diet became generally known and accepted, the manufacturers of synthetic medicines for controlling stress relief, cholesterol levels and heart disease related factors would stand to lose an amount of money that is truly motivational in its quantity.

Or maybe the government scientists that concluded there was no such thing as global warming are now determining public health policy. Whatever the excuse, people who deny or discount the health benefits of red wine have an agenda, and your personal health will be sacrificed to it.

Not Rocket Science

Methods for preventing heart disease and stroke are not rocket science, take no special equipment and are available to the average citizen.

Eat fresh vegetables (yes, your mother was right) and fresh fruit, olive oil, garlic and pasta with your wine. Lower your intake of salt and increase your amount of exercise. With these simple steps, taken every day, you will be on that road to preventing heart disease and stroke while creating definite, long term advantages for your over-all health and well being.