Red Red Wine... :)

"Nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by the Gods to man." - Plato

Yum wine...my drink of choice by far.  Wine is not only great for a little treat and some relaxation, but also has quite a few health benefits.  The key to keeping wine as a health benefit and not a diet destroyer is moderation.  Moderation means one glass per day for women and two glasses per day for men.

Medical Benefits of Red Wine:

• lowers the risk of heart attack
• lowers the risk of heart disease
• positive effects of cholesterol levels and blood pressure
• protection against certain cancers (breast, colon, leukemia, melanoma, prostate)

What makes wine beneficial to our health?

• Reveratrol; found in grape seeds.  Reveratrol promotes the formation of HDL (good cholesterol) and prevents the formation of artery blocking LDL (bad cholesterol).  Reveratrol has also been shown to lower DNA mutations, kick start cell death in cancerous cells, prevent the formation of new blood vessels that feed tumors, and neutralize the formation of free-radicals (these damage our healthy cells); which is why red wine has protection capabilities from different cancers.
• Flavonoid phenolics; antioxidant.  Flavanoids prevent blood clots; this is important in the small vital vessels of the heart and brain...no oxygen to these parts of the body=body failure!

Remember the key to keeping red wine beneficial and not harmful to the body is MODERATION!!!!

**More information can be found on the following sites:

• mayoclinic.com
• HealthCastle.com
• Red-Wine-and-health.com