Wine and Excercise for Good Health

2½ bottles of wine a week can save your life

That’s the headline from a story published in The Times today.  According to this article, those who drink up to 14 drinks each week have a lower risk of death from heart disease than than both heavy drinkers and non-drinkers. 

“A weekly moderate alcohol intake reduced the risk of all-cause mortality among both men and women, whereas the risk among heavy drinkers was similar to nondrinkers.”

Additionally, those who exercise regularly and consume 14 drinks weekly were the healthiest with a magnified health benefit from the exercise.  Would you care for a bit of pinot grigio in your exercise water bottle?

The article is based on a study published in the European Heart Journal in which some 12,000 Danish men and women were evaluated over several years in the 1970s and 1980s.

I love reports like this that make me feel a little less guilty about enjoying my wine.  And lucky for me, I exercise for over an hour every day.

While I’ve seen numerous reports like this that highlight the heart-health benefits of wine, I still struggle with the calories and the impact on metabolism.  I’ve never seen a report on wine’s effect on metabolism, but I’ve always been suspect that it does have a slowing effect.  I’ve personally cut back my consumption just so that I can keep the spare tire at bay.  Of course that’s also why I exercise.

In a similar story, Wired Magazine recently reported on a “red wine drug” that combats aging.  The drug is a derivative of resveratrol (an ingredient found in red wine known for anti-aging qualities) and it reportedly is showing promise to lower blood sugar in diabetic patients.

Yay! Good more good news for wine drinkers!