Whether it’s beer, spirits or my personal favourite, wine, most of us like to dabble in something. The age-old question of “is wine healthy” got me curious, so I decided to dig in.
This is a common topic, so there are a lot of myths out there on how wine and alcohol impact your health. Whether it’s good, bad or ugly for your body.
Do you ever find yourself asking if you drink too much?
How much should you drink?
Does mixing drinks get you drunk faster? Will coffee, a cold shower or fresh air help sober you up faster?
Lucky for you, I did a deep dive into these questions and found some interesting answers, so grab your favourite glass of red and let the smooth voice of my writing take you through this health lesson on “is wine healthy?”.
**Note** So this is a huge topic, and I didn’t want to let you down. I also understand there is only so much time in the day, so check out the links here to quickly browse what you’re looking for or read it all and become the ultimate wine health snob. Either way, you should leave a note below if you have questions or comments 🙂 **Note**
Okay, let’s start with the most important information first.
Drinking too much alcohol is not good for you. Everyone knows this. The cat’s out of the bag and the heaps of alcohol you just bought for Friday night should stay in the bag.
Is Wine Healthy? – A History
That said if you’re going out camping, then you might need all of that alcohol. Up until about 1650, this is exactly what the Romans and Greeks carried with them and they would add wine to water to cleanse it.
The alcohol and acid would then kill the bacteria in the water, making it safe to consume. Boiling water later became the prevailing method and now you have some options for your next camping trip.
Continuing the quick history lesson, besides using wine as a common medicine, wine was also used to extract other chemicals from plants.
This worked because the alcohol in wine was the best thing to extract these oils. So it wasn’t just used to have a good time.
Is Wine Healthy Today?
Let’s look at how Americans are using wine today.
Americans today use wine for cooking and drinking. Interestingly enough, there are not as many drinkers in America as Hollywood would make you think.
Recent studies show that roughly 230 million american (adults) reported not drinking any alcohol, that’s 36% of Americas!
When looking at the rest of the world, a study from the World Health Organization showed that most countries reported only 10% of adults avoiding alcohol completely.
As for the drinking population of America, 40% drink wine as their go-to alcoholic drink and more than half of them consume at least a cheeky glass every week.
I’m not pointing any fingers here, but I think we know all know these people are.
Continuing with this stat attack, it’s exactly 25% of you who are drinking at least one glass of wine every week. This group ends up drinking 90% of all the wine in the US.
Any guesses on how much you are drinking each year?
About 10 gallons of wine! That’s roughly 40 litres, for the Canadians in the house.
Is Wine Healthy Versus Other Drinks?
So how does wine measure up to other drinks?
Well, it is probably the best alcoholic beverage for you because of its low alcohol percentage.
Whoa, wine is low in alcohol?
Technically it is when you consider all of the available options and on average wine drinkers drink less alcohol than beer or spirits consumers.
Apologies if you are big on spirits because this is a tough category to be in.
Drinking spirits frequently, on average, leads to binge drinking more often than any other alcoholic option.
The alcoholic content in spirits is considerably higher than in wine or beer, making it easy to go overboard quickly and overwhelm your system.
This is why wine companies love to talk about wine as a healthy choice.
This might seem a bit snobbish to try and differentiate wine consumers from beer and spirits, but there are some interesting facts pointing in favour of our all mighty reds.
So is wine healthy?
For starters, wine is associated with very few arrests, specifically for driving under the influence. This is probably for a couple of reasons.
One, wine is usually consumed with a meal and this, of course, helps keep blood alcohol down.
Second, wine is acidic, it’s more difficult to drink lots of wine (this is not a challenge Susan 😂) then it is beer or even spirits.
Spirits are harsh when taken straight, so the majority are mixed with heaps of sugar to mask the bite.
This acidity in wine could also be the reason that wine is usually consumed with a meal. The food and wine complement each other quite nicely, cutting through that acid.
Are you dreaming of Indian food and a bold red right now? Maybe a pasta and a beautiful glass of white?
Well, it might be a good time for a food and wine break before we get to the next heavy topic.
Is Wine Healthy – Binge Drinking
Where is the line? When is it really considered binge drinking versus social drinking?
Well if you are a moderate drinker, by today’s standards, this means drinking a glass a few times a week.
This bodes well for you in the long run as your liver will adapt and start to produce more “alcohol dehydrogenase”, this is your defense against alcohol.
Which makes sense, because if you are drinking alcohol on a regular basis, you would expect your body is going to build up an immunity to it, making it more effective and faster at breaking down alcohol.
It’s like going to the gym for drinking. When you consistently workout your muscles, your body significantly improves at fixing your muscle tissue and getting ready for the next workout.
So like the gym, make sure you don’t miss a week at the pub with your mates.
Kidding, let’s leave the big life decisions to you and get back to our favourite college past time, binge drinking.
When we binge drink this does not allow your body time to breakdown the alcohol. Your body gets smashed with an onslaught of alcohol, resulting in quick and extreme intoxication, damaging your brain, organs, and body.
Is this what you want? Some might say yes, but it means a lot less nights with mates in the long run, so choose wisely.
Is Wine Healthy – Absorption of Alcohol
Let’s dig into what really happens when you drink alcohol. Besides all of the fun feelings you get, your body is absorbing or incorporating the alcohol into your body.
The alcohol first starts in your stomach where some of it is absorbed. After that, it quickly moves to the small intestine, where the rest is absorbed.
Absorption means into the bloodstream. Once alcohol gets into your blood, it goes through your entire body and all of your tissues are exposed to its wrath.
However, your body does fight back, using its most valued defense, your liver.
Your liver, the destroyer of all things evil, produces enzymes to break down the alcohol into acetaldehyde, which is still a less than ideal substance for your body.
Acetaldehyde is another toxin, but we are getting closer to success, as now it can be converted again to acetic acid. This is a natural, useful substance for your body and can then be used by your body for other things.
Here’s where things get a bit dicey though, as some people are not able to break down the acetaldehyde!
What happens to them? Well officially they lack the enzyme (ADH) and so they need to do something else to rid themselves of acetaldehyde.
If you think for a minute, you might be able to guess what this is as you have probably seen this before.
I’ll give you a hint. This is extremely common in Asian populations, in Japan or China.
Since they cannot break down the acetaldehyde, it accumulates in their bodies and then the body reacts by flushing it out. This is where people get blotchy, red spots, almost as if they are blushing.
Continuing with absorption, it looks like women are prone to faster intoxication than men regardless of size since women typically have slightly lower ADH in their stomachs.
This is the enzyme that breaks it down, which means they can’t remove the alcohol as quickly.
It’s not a huge concern as most of the alcohol is broken down in the liver anyways, but whatever is broken down in the stomach never actually hits your system, which is ideal for your health.
However, if you’re looking for the fun time vibes, then for the guys this can work against you and will make your wallet lighter.
Phew, that was a lot and you’re a better person for reading it. Now you might think twice about smashing drinks with your mates on a Friday night.
How Much Alcohol Can You Drink?
So how much can you really drink with your mates? Have you ever tested your limits? Any regrettable nights coming to memory? Maybe you don’t even remember the night…
Simple math tells us that Blood Alcohol (BA) = NumberOfDrinks * 4 / weight (lbs)
A common understanding is that the bigger you are, the better you are at holding your liquor. This formula follows that logic since weight is included.
The bigger you are, the more blood you have to dilute the alcohol, thus your Blood Alcohol will be lower.
Another reason is the size of your liver, the bigger you are, the bigger your liver is and the faster you will break down alcohol.
If you’re 200 pounds and have five drinks then you’re blood alcohol would equal 0.1%.
5 * 4 / 200 = 0.1
This is the percentage, so your blood alcohol would be 0.1%
What can you do if you enjoy having more drinks? Well, the best thing for lowering your BA (Blood Alcohol) is to eat!
Eat your little heart out to give your body more time to process the alcohol instead of it hitting all at once. Having a meal with a drink can effectively cut your BA in half.
Also, apparently bubbles will carry you higher, better, faster, since the CO2 (bubbles) helps the alcohol get into your bloodstream quicker. There is some speculation around this, including this article here.
But after giving that a read, I think I’m with the bubbles.
The comparison of vodka neat getting you intoxicated faster than vodka with carbonated water, doesn’t hold much water with me. Since the water is obviously slowing the speed in which the alcohol can be absorbed.
Penalty water anyone?
Anyways, I digress, give it a read and let me know what you think? What is your experience with bubbles versus still wine?
Is Wine Healthy – Alcohol Abuse
Okay, this one isn’t too much fun, but it’s good to talk about, think about, discuss and understand better. Maybe even a quick reminder is what everyone needs to keep alcohol consumption fun, so don’t hit the back button yet!
Alcoholism is a serious problem and roughly 10% of any population has an issue controlling their consumption. The social costs and medical costs are extremely high.
The USA tried prohibition back in 1918 which was a full-on ban of alcoholic beverages. It lasted 15 years before they realized it wasn’t working and the costs were still the same.
Everyone was still impacted by alcohol abuse and crime picked up where the government left off, distributing alcohol.
This was a long time ago though, so maybe it would work today with a more effective strategy, or maybe it’s a culture thing? Let’s have a look.
Is Wine Healthy – Intoxication and Culture
The North American drinking culture has its roots in Greece and foremost Europe. The tradition in northern Europe is pretty similar to here and many other places where alcohol consumption is considered occasional.
In northern Europe, if you hear Susan is hitting the pub after work on a Monday, you would probably raise your eyebrows at that.
However, if someone has a birthday and everyone is going out to have a drink, it’s usually called “drinking” with an expectation to have a few. The cultural expectation is to arrive at some level of intoxication by the end of the night.
This is where things get really interesting, in that it’s socially acceptable to “have too many”. After which you get a free pass for outrageous behavior.
So why is it socially acceptable to drink to intoxication?
Because it feels good of course. A lot of people like to shake their inhibitions and let loose. I’m not saying that is a good enough reason, but I think we can all understand it on some level.
Why do we watch TV or read a book? It’s an enjoyable escape.
Alcohol of course, has a negative impact on your body rather than the benefits your mind gets from reading a book. Your imagination comes to life versus, it dying because alcohol is ravaging your brain.
Complete opposite sides of the spectrum there, but an escape nonetheless.
Southern European culture is a bit of the opposite when it comes to alcohol. To drink every day is the norm and almost an expectation. Whereas if you get intoxicated, it’s definitely frowned upon.
Which do you think makes more sense? Maybe neither?
TLDR: What have we learned so far? Drink if it makes you happy but in moderation. If you cannot control your drinking, then it’s best you don’t drink at all.
Is Wine Healthy – Lead in Wine
Continuing health and wine, there are a few other things you should be aware of.
One is lead in wine, this is a bit scary and probably handy to know if you love old wine.
You don’t really need to worry unless the year is pre-1990. As time passes, it’s becoming less of an issue, but who wouldn’t want to try a 1986 Grange.
This is handy to know about in case there is a special occasion where you splurge for that special bottle. This way your investment doesn’t put a heavy metal into your system.
The foil wrapping put over the cork on a bottle of wine, pre-1990, was often made of pure metallic lead. If we took notes in history, then we would know the Roman elite might have something to say about this.
If you are behind the Romans and lead, then here is a link to some quick history.
Regardless of history, the bottling companies did it anyway, so let’s see what can happen as a result.
The foil cannot actually get into your wine, so you don’t have to worry about that. It’s the wine coming out of the bottle and into contact with the foil that you need to worry about.
If the bottle has somehow wept or leaked when in storage, the wine may have reached the lead cap and dissolved some of the lead to create lead tartrate. YUM!
Now is when you need to worry as lead tartrate is not your friend. It will dissolve nicely into liquids like wine and then you could easily consume a heavy metal.
What you can do?
- Take the foil cover off and check for white powder on the cork.
- If you see any, then wipe the top of the bottle before uncorking the wine.
This way it can’t get into the wine. Even better, just wipe the top off anyways, then there should never be an issue.
Another way lead can get into your wine is through crystal decanters. Lots of these are made with lead and should be avoided.
It’s actually hard to know and again the wine’s acid will absorb the lead quite easily for your, unexpected and unpleasant consumption.
If you see someone serving this, maybe give them fair warning and dodge that wine at all costs.
Is Wine Healthy – Nutrition
Have you ever looked at the nutritional label on a wine bottle? Of course you haven’t, because it does not exist!
Curiously in the US, wine is regulated by the Treasury and not by the Food and Drug Association within the US. This is because alcoholic beverages were considered to lack nutrition and thus, there was no reason to include them with food.
It makes sense, but what we’ll look at soon is all of the beautiful things wine does have for your body, which contradicts this theory.
Also, it does have some basic nutrition.
Alcohol is its own type of carbohydrate, which still means calories! Sorry dieting friends, but alcohol has ~7 calories per gram.
Here is a look at what the nutritional label would look like for a glass of red:
Since alcohol does have calories, but alcoholic beverages don’t carry much in regards to nutrition, binge drinking then has an additional negative effect on your body.
If you drink a lot, then you are not getting a useful mix of nutrition, and that nutrition is what you need to help break down alcohol! Vicious circle.
Lots of alcohol as your main source of energy also means you are not as hungry/thirsty for more nutritional substances.
Okay, so this has been a bit of a Debbie Downer so far, but it’s not all that bad. Let’s have a look at the GOOD health aspects of drinking wine, especially red wine.
Is Wine Healthy – The Amazing Benefits
What are the positive benefits of alcohol? Besides a nice buzz and social courage, there are actually a few nice benefits to having a glass after a long day.
Alcohol is known to increase high-density cholesterol (HDL), aka the “good cholesterol”, known to lower the risk of heart disease.
Alcohol, in general, is super effective against cholesterol because as it increases high-density cholesterol, it also lowers the dangerous, low-density form of cholesterol (LDL).
Alcohol also plays a helpful role in daily life by acting as an anticoagulant, guarding against thrombosis by preventing the aggregation of platelets in the blood.
Sorry, that was a bit of a mouthful. Let’s break it down for anyone who is curious.
Coagulation is effectively blood clotting. It’s when your blood moves from a liquid state to a semi-solid state. Not something you want internally.
Thrombosis is the term used to describe the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel. This then obstructs the continued flow of blood.
How alcohol helps you with this is that it acts as a blood thinner, hence preventing the aggregation of platelets in your blood.
For you to get these benefits, all it takes is one glass of wine, which can thin your blood for 24 hours. If you want to drink more, it will not do much more to help with blood clots.
Alcohol also has other obvious benefits. It has a relaxing effect on your system. A ballet dancer once said there is nothing better for muscle recovery than a glass of red wine.
Alcohol can also be of great social value, especially wine, with many sharing a passion for the taste and the process, it can be an easy way to spark a conversation with your boss, a client or someone you fancy.
A further benefit of wine is the antioxidants it contains.
The body aging is largely due to oxidation, so the presence of antioxidants in the diet is essential to living a long and healthy life.
Further, wine is known to have both antioxidant and anti-mutagenic benefits that inhibit all three phases of the cancer process: initiation, promotion, and progression.
This applies particularly to red wines, as they contain higher levels of polyphenols than white or rosé wines, which is where these benefits are coming from. Go grape skins and seeds!
Another positive aspect of wine in relation to health is the high natural level of potassium salts that it contains.
Wine contains one of the highest levels of all foods and beverages and potassium is valuable in counteracting excess sodium in the body.
Potassium, although chemically closely related to sodium, does not have the same bad effect on blood pressure, but does have the useful property of replacing sodium in the body.
Wine is also a good source of histamine. You might be familiar with antihistamines and the reason is your body actually unleashes histamine to get rid of allergens.
When you have an allergy, your body thinks something is wrong, when really it’s only a bit of pollen or dust. This is why you would take an antihistamine
So you definitely need histamine for any time there is actually an intruder in your body. Wine is a great source for it, especially for the vegetarians out there, since meats and cheese seem to be the other main sources for histamine.
Further, red wine has plenty of resveratrol, which is something that fights against pathogens, including bacteria and fungi.
It’s great for your heart and again against cancer since it has antioxidant properties and lastly could prevent some issues with vision loss.
Is Wine Healthy – TLDR
So overall there are many beneficial properties of wine since it can lower the risk of coronary heart disease, thrombosis, Alzheimer’s, cancer and leukemia, and it protects against our obsession with salt consumption through potassium!
The jury is out and you will have to decide what is best for your body. If you are like most of us, then having some form of alcohol is always going to be part of your life.
So let’s enjoy a glass of red and practice moderate drinking that is healthy for your personal situation.
This could be a glass a day for women and one or two glasses a day for the guys to enjoy the luxuries that wine brings us, without overpowering your system.
Who said you could ever have too much of a good thing?