Most of the time, people often think negatively of wine and other alcoholic drinks. A lot of the negativity often comes from what people see when others drink it. Some get intoxicated and begin to exhibit unusual behavior. Some sleep and can’t even stand on their own. Others, however, aren’t so lucky as they usually drink and then drive. Drinking and driving should never come together, period.
Too much drinking can also lead to a lot of illnesses such as fatty liver disease, liver cirrhosis, and alcoholic hepatitis. Another thing to take note of is that alcohol is not a natural substance found in your body. That’s the reason why your body works hard to get it out of your system by vomiting, sweating, urinating, and other excretory methods.
However, a lot of people don’t know that there is actually a good side to drinking alcoholic beverages such as beer or wine. The harmful effects of these drinks often come when done excessively, by binging.
If done correctly, through adequate and mild amounts of alcohol, one can surprisingly harness the health benefits of these drinks. Here are some health benefits of drinking alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer in moderate amounts:
Some drinks have antioxidants
In today’s time, a lot of toxicity and pollutants are already around us. And the sad reality is that these toxic materials often make their way into our bodies through the food we eat, the air we breathe, etc.
These toxic materials are called free radicals. Free radicals cause several problems in the human body, namely: Speeding up aging, cancer, and destroying cell membranes, which make us susceptible to disease and infection.
To help combat these free radicals, we should get a lot of antioxidants. Antioxidants help our bodies fend off free radicals. Lutein, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Carotenoids, Lycopene, etc. are just a few examples of antioxidants. Wines and other spirits have a lot of antioxidants within them.
Wine and tea have huge amounts of Catechins that help the body. These antioxidants are responsible for killing off bacteria, protects lipids from oxidizing, and increases the fat burning capability of our bodies.
Improves Cardiovascular Health
Many of the compounds found in wine and other alcoholic beverages can help improve the health of arteries and blood vessels. A healthier cardiovascular system means that your heart won’t work as hard, therefore reducing blood pressure and maintaining it on a healthy level.
Procyanidins are the compound responsible for the health of your cardiovascular system. It helps by blocking nitrosamines and prevents any build-up. Nitrosamines are abundant in cured meats such as bacon, meatloaf, ham, cheese, and sometimes in fish. Nitrosamines can cause cell death and can damage the DNA when left unchecked.
Calm and Confident
Another compound found in most wines is Resveratrol. Resveratrol is commonly found in plants such as grapes and other berry-producing plants. In some parts of Italy, particularly in Tuscany, grape skins are prized and are essential components of producing Tuscany wine as they contain large amounts of this compound.
When taken in the right amounts, Resveratrol is known to block an enzyme in our brains that’s related to stress. Another factor why alcoholic drinks can calm us down is that alcohol is a natural antidepressant. Mainly affecting the CNS or central nervous system, alcohol can calm us down, relax our muscles, boosts mood, and can give you confidence.
Fights off Osteoporosis
Aging can have a lot of effects on the human body. One of those effects is a deterioration of bone density or a condition known as Osteoporosis. Most wines have a lot of silicon in them. Like calcium, silicon enhances the matrix and enables proper bone mineralization, which increases the strength of the bone overall.
Longer Life
Drinking modest amounts of wine can actually help you increase your lifespan. Icaria, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, is considered to be a blue zone. Blue zones are places around the world where people have longer lifespans than most people.
People in Icaria are known as Icariots, have a surprising secret as to why they live longer. Most people living on the island include a glass of wine in their diet every day. With the myriad of health benefits associated with wine, it’s no surprise that these people may have found something close to the fountain of youth.
Takeaway
Wines and other alcoholic beverages are often scorned for their adverse effects. However, with the recent findings that science has made, it’s becoming more apparent that drinking modest amounts of wine can have health benefits.
These drinks have a lot of antioxidants which help fight off free radicals. The inhabitants of an island in the Aegean Sea can even attest to the benefits of wine as they have longer lifespans than average. Good as it may sound, it’s always better to drink in moderation.
Author Bio
Scarlett Wells is a freelance writer and wine enthusiast. She is an active critique examining all levels of wine types so she can produce reviews and articles that will help guide every consumer in selecting the right kind of wine to drink. Aside from that, she wrote a lot of blogs maximizing the real usage of wines. In her free time, she reads a lot about food and beverage pairing in order to help her become an effective mentor inspiring everyone to maintain a fit and fab lifestyle.
