Wine, Alcohol and Your Health
Wine is not only the oldest dietary alcoholic beverage but the oldest medicinal agent in continuous use throughout human history. The use of wine dates back more than 6,000 year with interest by physicians, scientists, poets and peasants. Even today, wine and other alcoholic beverages are classified as foods (it's the U.S.D.A.'s fifth food group) and is used daily in most cultures. More healthy benefits have been bestowed upon wine than any other natural substance.
There are few known unhealthy effects from moderate amounts of alcohol consumption, with negative consequences seen mostly in heavy drinkers. Women are more susceptible to alcohol not only because of size, but due to the less amount of alcohol dehydrogenase in their stomach, which breaks down alcohol before it's absorbed. Once in the blood alcohol is destroyed in the liver.
Most wine contains about 12% ethyl alcohol (ethanol), with only a very small percent of other types of alcohol. Sweet dessert wines may contain up to 20% alcohol. This compared to 40% (80 proof and 50% (100 proof alcohol in distilled products like vodka and gin. The pH of wine (its acidity) closely resembles that of a healthy stomach, one reason why wine improves digestion. Eating natural fats with wine slows the absorption of alcohol and protects the intestine from possible irritation. Wine also contains vitamins B-1, B-2, B-6 and niacin, as well as traces of most minerals, especially iron. Most red table wine contains significant amounts of iron in the easily usable ferrous form.
In his book, Wine and Your Well-Being, Salvatore Lucia, M.D. lists these attributes:
… Wine is a food, and provides a good source of immediate energy.
… Moderate amounts should have no deleterious effects on growth and development.
… The iron content may be helpful in averting iron deficiency anemia.
… Wine can stimulate the flow of gastric juice and enhance digestion. It can also be used during the recovery phase of illness, and for nausea, where champagne works best.
… Wine may be useful in overcoming the lack of appetite, especially when caused by emotional tension.
… Wine is helpful in the reduction of stress and tension.
Dr. Lucia also explains how wine can be used as part of a weight loss program. Taken with dinner, patients lost more weight than when wine was taken before or after dinner and compared to a control group. He also prescribes wine for other conditions, including diabetes, glaucoma and gout, and describes red wine as having internal antibiotic effects.
How much can we drink? About 3.5 ounces of pure alcohol can be safely metabolized by the body if spread out over the day. This translates to about a bottle of wine. To a European, this may not seem like excess, but an American may think twice about whether that's possible on a daily basis. In the U.S. the yearly average per capita consumption of wine is about 1.5 teaspoons, while in Italy it's about a half bottle. The simplest recommendation for those who enjoy wine is a 4 ounce glass or two with meals. For most people a glass of wine will be completely metabolized in about an hour and a half. Each individual must take the responsibility to be moderate if they drink any alcohol.
What is moderation? This varies with the individual. The state of health, genetics, gender, age and weight are all factors. For some people, alcohol should never be consumed. But for many, four to eight ounces of wine per day (just over an ounce of alcohol or the equivalent of about two to three drinks) is now considered a moderate amount.
Most table wines are about 24 calories per ounce. While most of these calories come from the alcohol, the sweets wines add calories from sugar too, and can be almost double the caloric content. The calories from alcohol are not metabolized like carbohydrates or fats. They're not stored but are used for work energy and body maintenance. That's assuming you're active and you don't exceed moderation.
The liver can utilize up to 45 grams of alcohol for energy, or the amount in three glasses of wine. In addition to improving digestion, wine and other alcohols in moderation significantly lower the risk of coronary heart disease. How this is accomplished is not completely understood but it's known that moderate drinkers have healthier cholesterol ratios—alcohol raises the HDL (the so-called "good") cholesterol. This may be one reason for the lower heart disease in consumers versus abstainers. Another may be that wine increases the blood flow to the heart.
Another interesting health benefit of wine is seen in the elderly. In ancient Greece, Galen considered wine to be the "nurse of old age." More recent studies show that wine added to the evening meal of elderly nursing home patients reduced complaints, increased interaction with other patients and staff, reduced incontinence and decreased the need for psychotherapeutic drugs.
While it's well known that excessive alcohol consumption during pregnancy can damage the fetus and/or offspring, what about smaller amounts of alcohol during pregnancy? Thus far, studies indicate that consuming less than an ounce of alcohol per day is not harmful to a fetus. Because of the individual responses to alcohol, however, pregnant women should be cautious when considering any alcohol consumption.
An obvious side effect of alcohol is that it impairs your senses, so it should be avoided within 4 hours of driving a vehicle. One drink increases the risk of an accident by 50% two drinks by 100%. Also, wine should not be taken by so individuals who are taking other drugs, or if they have certain illnesses. If you enjoy wine, be sure to ask your doctor whether it possesses any health problem for you.
Editor's note: Among, the more interesting therapeutic benefits of alcohol is its injection into tumors. This procedure, used successfully in Japan and Italy, is now being tried in the U.S. Doctors at Cleveland University Hospital are injecting pure alcohol into tumors of the liver. Thus far, they've had good success.