Should You Drink Red Wine for Your Health or Not?

We've all read the latest magazines telling us that drinking a little wine a day is good for us. Is there any truth to that or is the media just telling us what we want to hear? What are the facts and how can we be sure?

Let's uncork the truth

Sure we all know that wine helps us to unwind especially after a stressful day. Stress can lead to a multitude of health complications and sicknesses. So yes, drinking a decent size glass of wine can be considered good for you in the sense the it relieves some tension, anxiety, and stress. Is that it though?

Harvard researches did a study in 1992 about the affects of red wine and learned that it is indeed one of the 8 ways to reduce coronary heart disease risk. It however must be in extremely limited quantities otherwise the opposite could be true.

What about Other Wines?

Within the outer layer of red grapes as well as the seeds contain something known as flavanoids. This isn't found in other fruits used to make wines. For those who aren't aware of what flavanoids are I'll tell you. The are powerful antioxidants that help to prevent coronary problems in 3 separate ways:

1. They increase the good cholesterol which is known as High Density Lipoprotein
2. They reduce the production of Low Density Lipoprotein which is a bad cholesterol
3. Blood clotting is minimized
4. Minimizes the chances of kidney stones in women

   How Beneficial Is The Red Wine?

   Your chances of having heart disease can be reduced by up to 40%. That is a shocking percentage when you look at statistics. Coronary heart disease is the top killer of women every year.

   Milking These Benefits For All They Have Got!

   At the University of California researchers ran all sorts of tests on a large number of wines. They were checking for the concentration of flavonoids. They learned that it was the dryer red wines that had the maximum number of flavonoids. Not only that but the sweet wines that so many people love do not contain nearly as many flavonoids.

   Highest Concentration of Flavonoids:

   v Cabernet Sauvignon

   v Petit Syrah

   v Pinot Noir

   Do All Brands Have An Equal Amount?

   No, the more expensive red wines have a richness in the fruit that contains the most flavonoids. Unfortunately the lower priced wines didn't have nearly as many.

   How Big of a Difference?

   A $10-$20 bottle of wine will have approximately half the amount of antioxidants as a $200 bottle of red wine.

   The Drawbacks

   Yes here it comes, the dreaded drawbacks of it all. The International Journal of Cancer wrote an article after their study. The article stated how individuals become more at risk to bowel cancer when increasing their alcohol consumption. That doesn't just apply to red wines either.

   Although the average number of people with bowel cancer isn't a high percentage, alcohol does increase your risk by about 10% and that is something you should be aware of. So there you have it, the full truth and facts. Now you can decide whether or not drinking daily read wine is worth it for your health.

Source- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071030082146.htm- http://www.hkam.org.hk/temp/wine_health.html