I’m going to break your heart today ?
In this blog, I’m going to answer the question “Is wine good for you?” so buckle up and great ready! And for more real talk on wine make sure to
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The French Paradox
Taking it back to the beginning, this idea that wine is good for us originates from a study in the 70’s that we refer to as the French Paradox. This was a study that showed that French people have lower rates of heart disease despite drinking lots of wine. This was not a study that in any way would stand up to modern science. Besides that, there’s a lot of other things going on including cause and effect issues and under-reporting of heart disease as well at that time.
In terms of heart disease, there are plenty of studies that show that Japanese people have lower heart disease than the French, and they don’t drink a lot of wine ?♀️ So you know this whole heart disease and wine thing doesn’t really add up.
Wine as a “health” food
The proponents of wine as a health food always talk about resveratrol, this is a compound found in red wines that is supposed to help you with heart health. The problem is, there is just very middling evidence about this and it is not consistent. There are not really any good studies that show resveratrol having a major impact on health.
It can be said that fermented things such as wine, are good for gut health and can be helpful for your microbiome down in your belly.
But the truth is, alcohol increases the risk of stroke, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, AND it also makes you stupid and hungry which tends to have you reaching for the junk food ? We all know what it feels like to be hungover and it SUCKS! It’s poison people!
Most wine drinkers tend to be healthier overall because of other socioeconomic factors that have to do with privilege, history, access to healthy food, time, and money for exercise. So there is definitely a correlation but that does not mean that wine causes health benefits. Ultimately, anyone who is trying to sell you wine as a health product is lying to you!! This is marketing, it’s bull, and you should ignore it!!
Moral of the story
I love wine! I’m not gonna stop drinking wine. Drinking is all about moderation and wine can be part of a healthy lifestyle.
Let me know you learned something from the blog by dropping the word “WINE” in the comments.
