Dear Red Wine drinkers; I have wonderful news… your red wine habit also happens to come with some happy health benefits, such as protecting your ticker and even slimming your waistline. Winding down with a glass of vino is a good call all round.

Red wine is good for your heart; it contains resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant compound which protects your heart and arteries against the effects of saturated fats (which we now know all about after yesterdays post HERE) and can prevent the formation of blood clots as your levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol rises.

Red wine contains antioxidants; containing a number of other antioxidants which can slow the signs of aging, osteoporosis and prevent degenerative illnesses like diabetes. These antioxidants can also help fight off a cold, prevent tooth decay by hardening the enamel and protecting the gums, AND believe it or not prevent the growth of fat cells which essentially block the pathways necessary for immature fat cells to mature and grow.

Red wine controls your blood sugar; the skin of red grapes – which is where the rich antioxidant sources lie – actually help diabetics regulate their blood sugar levels. Researches suspect that resveratrol may help stimulate insulin secretion or activate protein that helps regulate glucose and insulin sensitivity.

But above all, red wine makes us happy! It creates an atmosphere that is social, fun and gives us that extra boost of confidence we need to kick off our heels and let our hair down. And lets be honest, we all know the more vinos we consume the louder, more funny and sexier we get right?? Until we cross the line of TOO MANY and it’s time to go home … (and eat the entire fridge contents and sleep << please note this behaviour is NOT promoted) If you get hangovers have a read of my healthy hangover cure on the blog HERE.

Although red wine has well known health benefits, drinking any alcoholic beverage in excess can lead to serious health problems, so of course limit yourself to not more than 2 glasses a day. Now how many of you just read that and thought… “well if I don’t drink Monday – Thursday does that mean those 8 glasses can be added to my Friday’s 2 glass allowance so I can knock back 10 glasses and still be under the ‘healthy’ limit….” well NO!! Sorry is doesn’t work that way. Stick to two glasses a day! (except for special events and one off occasions) remember it matters more what you do everyday than what you do once in a while!

Fun fact; pinot noir grapes have the highest resveratrol content

SAY CHEERS TO GOOD HEALTH

K