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Senior dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, Victoria Taylor, says: “Other foods, including grapes, blueberries and strawberries, provide antioxidants without the negative effects of alcohol.”
However, evidence proves that a glass of red wine is a healthier alternative to spirits or beer. While these latter options are either calorific, or often drunk with sugary soft drinks, the antioxidants present in red wine have been shown by decades of research to provide a number of health benefits.
The main beneficial ingredients in red wine are present due to the use of their antioxidant-rich dark skins in the fermentation process – polyphenol antioxidants, in particular resveratrol.
Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants that work to reduce the “oxidative stress” that occurs naturally within our body’s cells and has been linked to dementia, as well as cancer, diabetes and poor gut health.
Resveratrol is a form of antioxidant linked to better heart health, with higher levels of the chemical linked to anti-inflammatory effects that help treat cancer and other diseases.
The consumption of these antioxidants is considered to be the main health benefit of drinking red wine and can be added to your diet by eating more dark-skinned berries. However, below are the top five benefits you can see from a glass of red wine every day:
Better gut health
The Mediterranean diet has long been hailed as a natural, healthy way of eating – but that glass of wine can actually help the microbes in your gut and break down food into beneficial nutrients. A 2018 study found that polyphenols in red wine and grapes contribute to a healthy gut by improving gut microbiota.
Better cancer outcomes
Before we mention the benefits of red wine for cancer patients, it is important to know that drinking alcohol has long been linked to causing a wide variety of cancers such as liver and mouth cancer – so drinking a glass of red cannot be considered a healthy precaution.
Dementia
A 2018 study found that older people who didn’t drink red wine were more likely to develop a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. The study authors suggest that polyphenols and other compounds such as resveratrol in wine may reduce inflammation and reverse the processes that lead to dementia.
Better management of type 2 diabetes
Research has shown that drinking a glass of red wine can help people living with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels, with study participants seeing a “moderate” reduction in overall health risk their physical.
Better blood pressure and heart health
We all like to think that a glass of wine will calm our nerves, but there may be some truth to it. The antioxidant resveratrol is thought to lower blood pressure while increasing levels of good cholesterol in the blood, helping to maintain heart health and reduce the risk of heart attack and disease.
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