Health Benefits of Wine

23 Oct Health Benefits of Wine

There’s so much more to enjoying a good wine than just choosing the right bottle with the right label. We all like to indulge our palette, especially with a nice meal that’s paired with a good wine. A decent wine makes it worth the extra calories so don’t concern yourself with weight watching the next time you sit down to indulge. Although you, like many others may be concerned about the effects wine can have on your physical health, here are a number of things to consider the next time you treat yourself to an evening of food and wine.

Effects of Wine on the Body

Like many things we enjoy, wine can contribute to some weight gain, as can a number of other things that you wouldn’t traditionally associate with being unhealthy, such as fruits, reduced fat cheeses and even bran cereal.

However there is good news, in that wine is significantly less than beer when calorie counting. Weight gain can be reduced to a simple formula, if you take in more calories than you burn, you will undoubtedly gain weight. You will find that most lighter wines will have a lower calorie count but are also easier to drink so you almost inevitably end up drinking more than one glass!

• A serving of wine can have anywhere from 110-375 calories.
• Dessert wines in particular have a hefty serving of calories, with a little over 100 calories, those 2 or 3 glasses can be relied upon to contribute to weight gain, considerably more than one six ounce glass of wine!

Reveratrol

You will be happy to discover that many studies suggest that consuming alcohol (especially red wine) may reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD). This has far reaching consequences and studies have found that Resveratrol has possibilities for both the prevention and treatment of cancer. Merlots and Cabernets are the best options for increasing Resveratrol consumption and getting the most from your glass of red.

Health Benefits of Wine

A recent study found that drinking a glass of red wine provides many of the same benefits as an hour at the gym. The many measurable benefits include: raising the heart rate (which results in burning calories at a quicker rate which increases your metabolism), improving physical performance, and an increase skeletal muscle strength. These marvellous benefits are not an excuse to quit exercising in favour of drinking to excess though, or it will be counteracted and will have no discernable impact on your health.

If you want to get more Resveratrol into your diet, start with dark chocolate, peanut butter, blueberries and other dark fruit. You could also alter your drinking habits to include more Cabernet and Merlot – as they are loaded with larger quantities of Resveratrol.

#1 Burn the Brown

Red wine will increase your metabolism if you partner it with a healthy exercise regime and ensure that you burn more calories than you eat.

Your body actually helps you to do this by producing ‘brown’ fat as opposed to the ‘white’ fat. We have two types of fat in our bodies: white and brown, white lays along our muscles and is dormant, whereas brown fat is known to burn calories. The presence of Resveratrol in the body helps transform some of the white fat into brown which can in turn, burn off those calories.

#2 Beating Bad Cholesterol

There are two types of cholesterol in the body: HDL (the good cholesterol) and LDL (the bad cholesterol).

• HDL is found in the blood stream and is essentially the cleaner of the blood, in particular it cleaned the bad cholesterol, LDL.
• LDL can build up on the walls of arteries and often leads to heart attacks and strokes.

#3 Staying Sharp

Whilst nothing is able to reverse the dreadful decline of mental faculties in people who have degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, it has proven true, that consumption of red wine in moderation, can help delay the inevitable, giving a reprieve to some.

Longevity

A lifestyle that encompasses exercise, a nutritious and healthy diet, low stress and the moderate consumption of red wine, will significantly improve your health and wellbeing. With benefits such as improving mental acuity, strengthening our hearts, regulating blood sugar and possibly helping us to avoid diseases like cancer, drinking red wine balances out the occasional indulgence in rich foods.

For more information about unique wine storage solutions, you can call Signature Cellars on 02 9340 7515 or use this contact form to get in touch with us. We’ll be pleased to assist you.

Thanks for reading,
Neil Smallman
Signature Cellars
02 9340 7515