JULY 31, 2012 BENEFITS OF RED WINE

"We are born to be happy, to be abundantly supplied with every good thing, to have fun in living, to consciously unite with the Divine Power that is around us and within us, and to grow and expand forever."    —Ernest Holmes

THIS COULD BE YOUR DEFINITION OF HAPPINESS. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE FUN IN LIVING, THEN YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG. LIFE IS MEANT TO HAVE FUN. UNITE WITH YOUR HIGHER POWER IN MEDITATION AND PRAYER. SOME OF YOU WILL BALK AT THE WORD MEDITATION, BUT I ASSURE YOU THIS --TRY IT --IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
I CAN HOENSTLY SAY WITHOUT ANY DOUBT THAT MY LIFE HAS GROWN EXPONENTIALLY AND WITH THE GREATEST HAPPINESS DUE TO MEDITATION.



Who doesn't like a glass of Merlot after a long days work ! Do you have wine with dinner, especially red? Or do you prefer white. Red wine ( Vitus vinifera) has been shown to improve blood lipid parameters and red cell membrane fluidity in post heart attack patients. This was recently published in Mol Nutr Food Res February 2012. The Coronary Care Unit will now be serving 2 glasses of wine to their patients - one at lunch and one at dinner.

All jokes aside, there is a cardioprotective effect of moderate consumption of red wine. This has been attributed to its antioxidant potential, improved endothelial fucntion of the inner lining of arteries and the specific polyphenols in the wine. What is a moderate consumption of wine ? As I read the article I was relieved to know that the study groups each had 2 glasses of wine- 1 at lunch and 1 at dinner. It was not stated the fluid ounces of each glass of wine.  The red wine was a Burgandy ( Les Haues Cotes; Chateau de Vilars- France) The groups were divided into the wine group and the water group. There was no mention to the water the water group was given. It was stated why this type of Burgandy was used. It was due to the high polyphenol content  3.81 g/L. Diets were the typical Mediterranean type diets for each group.The diet was called a Western Prudent Diet.

I have two flaws in this study- the amount of wine and water is not known, and smoking cigarettes was not eliminated. I guess the French love cigarettes with their wine. The exercise was controlled for both groups.
It was postulated that the red wine consumption group had better erythrocyte membrane fluidity. This increase in membrane fluidity facilitates better circulation and prevents clotting or thrombosis.

So 1 - 2 glasses of some unknown amount of wine with a prudent Western Diet can have cardioprotective benefits. This doe snot mean finishing 1 bottle of Burgandy at dinenr ! It means two glasses of wine ( see above filled glass)

Until tomorrow...