# Wine and Your Health



## geocorn (Nov 1, 2006)

Was there ever any doubt about the positive effects of drinking wine in moderation (1-2 glasses per)?


http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/11/01/fat.fightingwine.ap/index.html


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## NorthernWinos (Nov 1, 2006)

Yes, drinking red wine makes you feel good right away...and smarter too....


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## earl (Nov 1, 2006)

The article stated that it was the equivalent of 100 bottles or red wine per day. 

I'm certainly going to give it a try






earl


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## kutya (Nov 1, 2006)

My Doctor is always asking me for a bottle of wine. I'm sticking with it.. In moderation of course......lol....


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## sangwitch (Nov 2, 2006)

Ha ha! Yea!



What a great article. How's that for lifestyle justification. 


I'm a little concerned about this part though...


_Helfand said he won't be taking red wine extract supplements -- but he has put his elderly mother on them. He said he's waiting to see if there are long-term ill effects for humans. _


He's experimenting on his elderly mother???


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## kutya (Nov 2, 2006)

I was watching CNN this am, and they were doing a feature story on this same topic.....


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## PeterZ (Nov 2, 2006)

My wife was just diagnosed with a LDL cholesterol of 290! She found an article about the benefits of red Zin for reducing it.

After a hiatus of 20 years, I'm thinking about getting back into wine making again.


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## masta (Nov 2, 2006)

Welcome PeterZ,


I know I make and drink lots of wine strictly for health reasons. I also have an issue with high LDL and I wash down my Lipitor with a big glass of Cab or Merlot, or Shiraz or......


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## Wade E (Nov 2, 2006)

Welcome Peter, you choose the right place, some things might have
changed since then but for the better I'm sure. How much experience do
you have. If you need help, we're here, if you can help others, even
better. Glad to have you aboard and hope you get back on the winemaking.


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## PeterZ (Nov 3, 2006)

Hi, Masta and Wade,


Back in '83 I made several 1 gallon batches of wine from concentrate. Back then it was just concentrate, water and yeast! In '84 I made 5 gallons of red zin from grapes. I aged that in bulk for about a year (it made the move to Memphis in a glass carboy) and bottled it. It won a red ribbon at the Mid-South Fair in '85.


I'm looking forward to trying it again. Today's concentrates look to be of much higher quality than those of 20 years ago.


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## PolishWineP (Nov 4, 2006)

I too need to lower my bad numbers a bit. Hhmm.... I should figure out which medicine I'll need to use tonight...




PeterZ, welcome to the forum! There are some fabulous kits out there these days!


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## bmorosco (Nov 7, 2006)

Ok just by reading everything in here and well folks I have some bad news ...You all need help.....AA was invented for people like us ...hahaha Now I have to go take my medicine...


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## OldWino1 (Nov 13, 2006)

iare those meds in a glass and about 8 ozs?


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## peterCooper (Nov 17, 2006)

I have a suspicion that most of them indeed are. 
I'm back after a couple of weeks in Poland (Katowice PWP in case your family hails from there) Had a good time but I'm off sausage and sauerkraut for a while.


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## wvpcdoc (Nov 17, 2006)

Finally CNN posts some positive news!


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## trashy (Dec 3, 2006)

bmorosco said:


> Ok just by reading everything in here and well folks I have some bad news ...You all need help.....AA was invented for people like us ...hahaha Now I have to go take my medicine...



just remember.....

"An alcoholic doesn’t know why he drinks, I do. I drink to get bagged." -- Jackie Gleason


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## Pepere (Dec 11, 2006)

bmorosco, 
I do not have an alcohol problem........there's plenty of it in my wine rack



*Edited by: Pepere *


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## wvpcdoc (Dec 11, 2006)

lol good one Pepere


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## Waldo (Dec 17, 2006)

I am trying to get well stocked up on my meds too..Yesterday was quite the busy day at The Cats Meow Winery. It began at 3am with racking my Plum wines and Black Currant 




then bottle washings and santitizing followed by bottling My Green Apple Riesling. I then labeled my Reisling , Campbells Early Grape and Apple/Rasberry that I had bottled last week. 






The bottles were leaving the house almost as fast i could get them labeled as friends and neighbors dropped in


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## Wade E (Dec 17, 2006)

Very nice Waldo. They all look beautiful.


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## NorthernWinos (Dec 17, 2006)

Waldo...is that the Plum Wine in the middle carboy???? If so...it sure cleared nicely.Did you use Super Kleer K-C?????

Is the Black Currant the one that started out as Port???How is it going to be???? Sweet or dry????


How about photos of those nice labels!!!!*Edited by: Northern Winos *


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## grapeman (Dec 17, 2006)

Those are awesome Waldo! I especially like the Green Apple Riesling label. How does the Black Currant taste with two cans per batch. Is it worth the extra can, or does Wades idea with the black currant juice have as much flavor. I'm waiting to start mine.


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## Waldo (Dec 17, 2006)

The plum is continuing to clear nicely NW and I do not use any finings on my wines unless it is a kit. The Black Currant is the one I started as a Port and I believe it is going to turn out just great. It will be a pretty sweet wine and I may end up using it to make a blend. I am going to try an experiment blending it withwith Muscadine.


Appleman the Black Currant I made from the Currant concentrate only is awesome. I would definately recommend using two cans. Wades is absolutely great but this one has more body and the flavors seem to be a bit more complex. Either way podner you cannot go wrong.


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## NorthernWinos (Dec 17, 2006)

I plan on making a Vintners Harvest Black Currant using the 96oz can and two 500 mil bottles of WinExpert Red garpe Concntrate....and make it to a 5 gallon batch....

Do you all think that would be too thin???? 

Should I throw in a bag of Elderberries or something else too?????

I want it to finish a dry red wine.


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## Waldo (Dec 17, 2006)

I would go for two cans of currant NW and leave everything else out. I think you will really like it 
Thats what i did for just my urrant wine. I added all the other for my Port.*Edited by: Waldo *


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## bmorosco (Jan 17, 2007)

Everything looks mgreat waldo.. what program are you using to print your labels..


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## Waldo (Jan 17, 2007)

A combination of Adobe and Print Shop bmorosco


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## Francie (Jan 17, 2007)

Waldo--


I love your labels!!!!! They look terrific!!! Cheers to your health!!


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## geocorn (Feb 21, 2007)

Just got this from RJ Spagnols:





Good News From Wine and Heart Health Symposium

See attached excerpt by Paul Franson from Daily News Links, 02/20/2007. Enjoy!

The news from the Sixth International Wine and Heart Health Symposium is even better than expected. After extensive analysis of research on the subject and their own patients, doctors at Kaiser Permanente have found that not only does moderate consumption of wine reduce the risk for deaths from coronary and vascular disease, but it also reduces the risk for ischemic stokes, diabetes and even gallstones. 
An extensive recent and carefully conducted large-scale unpublished study in Nancy, France, further confirms the positive findings. Other research demonstrates that low to moderate use of wine helps suppress E. coli bacteria, may reduce the incidence of colorectal and gastric cancer, and even improves cognitive function as you age; the traditional advice to drink less as you get older doesn't seem true after all. And though incidence of breast cancer seems to rise slightly with moderate drinking, since many more women die from heart disease (1 in 2) than breast cancer (1 in 25), the numbers still favor wine consumption. Women and older people actually benefit more proportionately from wine than even younger men. 

And perhaps most comforting, moderate drinking may be more than the typically recommended 1 or 2 glasses per day. Benefits seem to increase with 3 to 5 glass of wine a day for an average man. Interestingly, the optimum Body Mass Index - a measure of appropriate weight -- turns out to be about 26, classed as slightly overweight by current government charts, yet moderate wine drinking may actually help reduce obesity. Also, contrary to some earlier research and claims, beer, spirits and unfermented grape juice do not provide as much protection as wine.


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## grapeman (Feb 21, 2007)

Interesting reading.


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## masta (Feb 21, 2007)

Yes I knew having that extra glass of wine was a good thing for me!


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## NorthernWinos (Feb 21, 2007)

I'll drink to that!!!!


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## Waldo (Feb 21, 2007)

Oh my.....It was 1-2 glasses a day I was supposed to be drinking. I thought it was 1-2 bottles a day......


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## Wade E (Feb 21, 2007)

I guess it all Depends on what size wine glass you have Waldo!
This is 25"




This one down here stands 3' tall, mama mia!


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## Miss Rocky (Jun 16, 2007)

I knew that wine had to be good for you!!! Anybody make a "Breakfast" wine? How about the orange wine? We made some of that and it turned out very good. Didn't clear as near as well as my apricot wine did though.


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## NorthernWinos (Jun 16, 2007)

We make carbonated apple cider...it's would surely do for a nice breakfast or brunch wine, very refreshing.


My husband use to go to Canada fishing with the boys....I had told them to get some 'Light and Easy..Sparkling Cider'...they loved it for breakfast and mouthwash...would set them up for the rest of the day....Now when we go to Canada we always look for it and can never find it anymore.


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## SB Ranch (Aug 26, 2007)

15% of people report negative reactions to wine since wine can contain histamines, sulfites and artificial coloring. 















Here’s a toast to the good tidings that the occasional glass of wine is something of a health drink. May your favorite Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Pinot Noir keep your heart strong, your HDL cholesterol high, and, possibly, your brain cells active and well connected! Alas, for some, that toast would be a preamble to a throbbing headache, especially if the wine is red. The _red wine headache_ is a real—if poorly understood—phenomenon. 


The Sulfite Story


_Sulfites_ are possibly to blame. They are compounds that contain sulfur and a less-than-optimal number of oxygen atoms. Consequently, they “grab” oxygen before it can react with food and spoil it. In wine, sulfites also control bacteria that might otherwise digest the alcohol content, turning a $50 bottle into some very expensive vinegar. Some sulfites are created naturally during fermentation, as the yeast breaks down sugars in the grape juice into alcohol and carbon dioxide. But wine makers often add more as a preservative. 


Sulfites were once considered harmless, but in the 1980s, studies started to show that a small number of people (about 1%, according to the FDA) are sensitive to them. The FDA, therefore, prohibits the use of sulfites on fruit and vegetables intended to be eaten raw, so salad bars and your supermarket’s produce section should be sulfite-free. Depending on their concentration levels and other factors, the sulfite compounds must be included in a food’s list of ingredients. Most wines are emblazoned with a “contains sulfites” warning. 


But many experts question whether sulfites are the source of red wine headaches for several reasons. First, breathing problems (including asthma attacks), not headaches, are the more typical reaction to sulfites. Second, red wine is typically the trigger, yet many sweet whites contain more sulfites than reds because they have a higher sugar content. Third, plenty of other foods contain sulfites, so these headaches shouldn’t be particular to red wine. 


This doesn’t mean that sulfites in red wine can’t be a problem. For example, red wine has been known to trigger asthma attacks, presumably because of the sulfite content. 


The Histamine Hypothesis


White wine is made using only the grape’s juice, or _must_. Red wines use the entire crushed fruit, including the skins, which contain the biologically active compound _histamine_. As a result, red wine contains 20–200 times more histamine than white wine. 


Some people are histamine-intolerant because of a deficiency in _diamine oxidase_, an enzyme that breaks down histamine in the small intestine. Alcohol also inhibits the enzyme, so some experts believe that red wine headaches are caused by a combination of wine’s alcohol content and a diamine oxidase shortage. But this theory is contradicted by some studies. For example, a French study in the February 2001 _Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology _of 16 people with “wine intolerance” found no difference in reactions to low- and high-histamine wines. The researchers didn’t dismiss the possibility that histamine plays a role, but suggested that some other ingredient in red wine might boost levels of it in the blood. 


The Tannins Tale


_Tannins_, another constituent of grape skins, give red wine its distinctive pleasant but slightly bitter flavor. They may also explain why red wine is so healthful, because they’re _flavonoids_, antioxidants found in plant-based food. But here’s proof that there’s no such thing as a free lunch: tannins may cause headaches. Several carefully controlled lab experiments have shown that they provoke blood platelets into releasing serotonin, and high serotonin levels can cause headaches. 


Finally, for some people, it may simply be the alcohol. Alcohol, in any drink, is a well-known precipitant of migraine, and some of the headaches set off by wine are migraines. 


What You Can Try


If you can tolerate some but not a lot of sulfites, you might try a brand that promises “no sulfites added,” though there are still going to be some from fermentation. 


If tannins are the culprit, try a wine with a lower tannin level—Beaujolais instead of Cabernet Sauvignon, for example. Mature wines might be better than young, heavily alcoholic ones, especially if you avoid the sediment. 


Some advise taking aspirin or ibuprofen beforehand, although there’s little published evidence that this works.


Histamine hypothesis proponents sometimes suggest a nonsedating antihistamine like Claritin.


Connoisseurs might consider keeping a record of their wine choices and any headaches to figure out which to avoid—and just hope that the wines causing a problem aren’t their favorites. 



Side Note: F*oods which cause flatulence are beans, pulses, soya, radish, fermented foods like bread and other foods made with yeast, beer, wine, cooked cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli.**Edited by: SBRanch *


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## uavwmn (Dec 9, 2007)

OMW.....that is hilarious!! I am thinking if she is elderly, she is doing something right!!


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## uavwmn (Dec 9, 2007)

I switched from whites to red wines because I want to be smarter.


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## uavwmn (Dec 9, 2007)

It isn't 1-2 bottles a day?


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2007)

... And more courageous!!!!


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