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Nothing appears quite clear in the wine and health debate. Matters are made more complex when dignified winemakers claim certain wines can cure health problems, while anti-alcohol groups seem to constantly bring up references to accidents and violence. While wine, like all alcohol, is potentially dangerous if abused, there is no real reason to treat it like poison. After all, an overdose of certain herbs like Comfrey can be toxic, and to date we do not see health warnings on spice jars. Wine also has a long heritage throughout the history of western civilization - just look through any book of quotations and you will see references to Dickens,Shakespeare, The Bible, any many more famous writers. Where literature contains references to demon drink, beer and spirits are often the major culprits. In the old west, John Wayne did not react to a gunslinger whose behaviour was the result of an overdose of Sauvignon Blanc. Reports from a variety of health and medical sources around the globe provide enough evidence to suggest that, far from being harmful, sensible consumption of wine can actually contribute to good health. Wine drinking Frenchmen have fewer heart attacks than their health conscious non wine consuming American counterparts. Canadian research indicates that Red Wine, especially Pinot Noir, is especially effective against heart disease. Other American research has linked tannic red wine consumption, for example Cabernet Sauvignon, to reduction in the incidence of certain cancers. Wine, and especially red wine, appears from the research, to have the edge by a solid margin over other forms of alcohol. It is, however, still important to drink wine sensibly. Wine varies in its alcohol style, with table wines varying from 9% alcohol to 15%, and fortifieds as high as 20%. A standard glass of Chardonnay at 12% alcohol differs in its alcol impact from a full bodied Shiraz at 15%. So there are recommendations about the number of standard glasses of wine that should be consumed per week for good health: 21 to 35 for men, and 14 - 21 for women. This might seem unfair, but the lower body mass of women combined with their relatively higher proportion of body fat, means that women metabolise alcohol less efficiently than men. Also, studies from Denmark highlight the beneficial effects of moderate daily doses of wine, instead of binges and gaps in consumption. The alcohol content of wine does also leads to weight gain. A 15% Shiraz will put more weight on you than a sweeter wine lower in alcohol. The stronger the wine the more the weight gain. There are however times when total restraint from alcohol, and wine consumption, is completely necessary. These are driving and pregnancy, and possibly also prior to conception! Even the smallest amount of alcohol can impair judgement. To be safe, consume no alcohol at all during these times. An interesting side issue, is that in European wine producing countries, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, which worries Australians, is almost unknown. The average size human body takes about an hour to process a standard glass of average strength wine. Larger size people are able to cope with more than this, but smaller sized people, including women,can find this to be too rapid a pace for their constitution to deal with. It has been thought advisable to accompany wine with food, and also with water, to avoid the dehydrating effects of the wine. To many Europeans, food and wine go together like bookends, and they rarely consume one without the other. There is a body of evidence to suggest that this is a habit worth developing because together they both create good medical and nutritional outcomes, especially if they are downed with a suitable quantity of water as well. After the event is not always too late. Consume plenty of liquids, even fruit juice, to rehydrate, and consume some easily digestible protein. Finally, add some good quality Vitamin B Complex tablets, as the alcohol reduces the body's ability to assimilate these vitamins.
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