Do you currently drink red wine for your health becaaaauuuse you read somewhere once that red wine was good for your health? Yeah... stop that. This week's Fix it Friday focuses on a less-physical, more-nutritional topic. A wonderfully discerning and long time client of mine sent me an article which I devoured this morning, loved, and wanted to share with you guys!
Now before you stop reading/get mad/freak out, I'm not on a soap box, and FYI, I personally will continue to enjoy an occasional glass of wine. I'm not telling you alcohol is the absolute devil and to drop it like it's hot. I AM saying....IF you are one who currently justifies their wine love with, "but it's so good for you!", I would like to suggest a little come-to-Jesus moment with a side dose of reality.
This article comes from PsychologyToday.com and was written by Georgia Ede, MD. She is "a Harvard-trained, board-certified psychiatrist specializing in nutrition-focused counseling and consulting services for individuals and fellow clinicians".
Here is the link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/diagnosis-diet/201909/can-red-wine-reduce-your-risk-alzheimers
Dr. Ede asks us to consider, when the last time was that your doctor said to you, "Your problem, Mrs. Williams, is that you don’t drink. The human brain requires alcohol to function at its best. Go home, start drinking regularly, then come see me again in three months.”
Yeah - has not, and will not ever happen. Because those kinds of statements don't come from doctors who possess a vast understanding of how substances affect the human brain. Those kind of statements come from TV shows and articles adept at sucking you in with sexy, attention-grabbing headlines. What's potentially more enticing than being told all your health problems can be/will be improved by drinking more...?
Anyway, when you have a moment, check the article out. Bookmark it and read it when you're enjoying your next glass of wine. ;) I love it because it's sciencey. It describes, in an understandable way, what resveratrol is and does. It outlines for us the three main "studies" which spawned many of these claims that "wine is a health food" and explains the major flaws with each of them.
If you don't have time to read the article, check out my two favorite takeaway facts that Dr. Ede throws out there for us:
"Doses used in the study described above were 500 to 2000 milligrams per day. To reach even the low end of that dose range, you would have to drink more than 19 gallons of wine per day, because the typical glass of red wine contains just one measly milligram of resveratrol."
"Resveratrol is believed to “work” by fighting oxidative stress. Unfortunately, that lonely milligram of antioxidant in your wine glass is swimming in five ounces of wine, which contains 3/4 of an ounce of alcohol, a powerful promoter of oxidation."
Again, it is not my place to take away the joys of an occasional drink or two. Shoot. Moms? Dads? No one is more deserving of that little mental *sigh* that comes to you after you're about half way through your favorite glass of red after a long week. Or my corporate ladder climbers - sometimes a little happy hour is just what you need once in a while after an extra stressful day. (Hopefully you're ALSO balancing these moments with regular bouts of physical releases at the gym, good food, and a decent sleep schedule.) But sure! Enjoy your wine. However, don't do it under the guise of health just because some grocery store checkout line magazine article told you to.
Cassandra R. Bradin is a certified personal trainer who is passionate about the essential idea of longevity in training, creating programs that enhance function, mobility, strength and internal well-being. She specializes in weight loss, Olympic weightlifting, nutrition, and fitness for seniors. With a full-time career in fitness, when she's not working with clients in her studio or coaching, Cassandra enjoys spending time on her mini farm in Oakland, MI.