Wine As A Part of A Healing Diet?

aturally fermented wine is more than an alcoholic beverage. It is a complex biological fluid possessing definite physiological values. Records back dating back 4,000 years refer to the dietary and therapeutic uses of wine. It has been used as a food, medicine, as part of various religious ceremonies and as an important element in social life.

Wine is still living food, and can combine, and aid, the body like yogurt or other fermented foods. Many small, family owned wineries make chemical and additive free wines that retain inherent nutrients, including absorbable B vitamins, minerals and trace minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, organic sodium, iron, calcium and phosphorus. Wine is vastly more complex product than beer or spirits; it is never boiled, so its biologically active compounds are not destroyed or altered by heat.

Wine is a highly useful drink for digestion, and in moderation, is a mild tranquilizer and sedative for the heart, arteries and blood pressure. Wine can free circulation, relieve pain and reduce acid production in the body.

Research indicates that drinking one or two glasses of wine per day can cut coronary heart disease risk by 50%, help prevent blood clot formation, and increase the life span by reducing stress. Wine raises high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) in the blood, while decreasing low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) to help lower dangerous cholesterol levels.

Recent studies at U.C.Berkeley have shown that red wine is rich in the new class of polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that help neutralize free radicals, which damage DNA, alter body chemistry and destroy cells outright. U.C. Davis research involves the wine compounds, tannins, quercetin and reservatrol, found in red wines. These studies showed that tannin-rich red wine was able to reduce ADP-induced platelet aggregation and increase HDL cholesterol levels, suggesting that tannins may help prevent heart disease.

Quercetin, a flavonoid that appears in red wine grapes and other dark fruits, may be one of the most powerful anti-cancer agents ever discovered, because of its

ability to reverse tumor development by blocking the conversion of normal body cells to cancer cells. Quercetin activity is intensified by the wine fermentation process and by naturally-occurring flora in the intestinal tract. It also improves the pancreas function, and levels the release of insulin.

Reservatrol is a natural compound in grapes that fights fungal disease, predominately in red wines. Although alcohol in any form has been associated with a reduced risk in incidence of heart disease, new studies suggest that something in wine in addition to the alcohol is responsible for its cholesterol-lowering benefits. Resevatrol may be that “something” or, at least play a role in this action.

Always use wine in moderation.