WHY A GLASS OF WINE A DAY IS GOOD FOR WOMEN

Enjoying a glass of wine with a meal is perfectly fine. In fact, it can actually be very beneficial to your health. Wine can quite possibly prevent blood-sugar trouble. If a premenopausal woman drinks one or two glasses of wine per day, they are 40% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to women who don’t drink wine at all (according to a 10 year study by Harvard Medical School). Wine seems to reduce insulin resistance in diabetic patients. Wine can also guard against ovarian woes. When Australian researchers compared women with ovarian cancer to cancer-free women, they found that about 1 glass of wine a day seemed to reduce the risk of the disease by as much as 50%. The University of Hawaii found similar results. Experts believe this may be due to antioxidants or phytoestrogens, which have high anticancer properties, and are commonly found in wine. In a recent study at the University of Michigan, a red wine compound helped kill ovarian cancer cells in a test tube.

Wine can preserve your memory. When researchers gave women in their 70’s quizzes, women who drank a glass or two of wine per day scored higher than the women who drank less or none at all. Wine helps prevent clots and reduce blood vessel inflammation, both of which have been linked to cognitive decline and heart disease. Alcohol also seems to raise HDL (good cholesterol), which helps unclog your arteries. Women who drink moderately seem to have higher bone mass than women that abstain from alcohol all together. This will build stronger bones. Alcohol can boost estrogen levels (the hormone seems to slow the body’s destruction of old bone more than it slows the production of new bone).

Wine can definitely boost your self-defenses. In a British study, those who drank a glass of wine per day reduced their risk of infection by 11% of Helicobacter pylori bacteria, a major cause of gastritis, ulcers, and stomach cancers. Even just drinking half a glass of wine may guard against food poisoning caused by germs like salmonella when people are exposed to contaminated food, according to a Spanish study. People that drink wine daily have lower body mass than those who indulge occasionally. Moderate wine drinkers have narrower waists and less abdominal fat than people who drink liquor. Alcohol may encourage your body to burn extra calories for as long as 90 minutes after you finish the glass. Beer even seems to have a similar effect.

So if you’re in the mood for a little wine, just remember all of the amazing benefits it can give your body. Then you can relax, watch a movie, and even get better sleep throughout the night. Enjoy.