Wine: The good and the better

The first thing that came to mind when I started this post was that my original thought for a title was Wine: The good, the bad and the ugly. The fact is - I couldn’t write that. It wouldn’t be true. Wine is one of the good things in life that you all can enjoy without feeling one iota of remorse. That’s right, even dieting, you can have a glass and not feel bad. At. All. No catch. No rules.

Since this is Wicked Weighs though, I am going to educate you. I want to say upfront, I am NOT a wine professional. I purchase my wines off of the shelf at my grocery store shelf. I sometimes even...drink it chilled. *gasp* But, I do know a thing or two about what happens on your insides when you consume things.

Have you guys ever thought about what wine can do for you? Besides, give you that lovely light headed feeling. Think about this, the FRENCH are the biggest wine consumers in the world. The French whose diet typically consists of cheese, bread, butter, and thick gooey sauces all over everything. Yet, these people are not keeling over dead from heart attacks. (ponder it, you know you are) The reason? They are also consuming moderate amounts of wine on a regular basis. Interesting isn’t it?

Wine (particularly red) is full of these lovely things called flavonoids. Flavanoids act as antioxidants. Antioxidants enter your bod and fight all these other things called free radicals. In essence, free radicals are the bad guys. They break down and steal vitamins, nutrients and other important things that your body needs to function properly and then they attack your cells and cause damage. Damage that is sometimes also linked to certain cancers. Scary little things aren’t they? In addition to being loaded with antioxidants, wine has all the lovely benefits of grapes and fruit. Clinical and statistical evidence and laboratory studies have shown the contents in wine, particularly red wines, to boost the immune system, block cancer formation, and possibly protect against heart disease and even prolong life.

I am not telling you that it is aok to down a whole bottle by yourself each night. That would lead you to a whole mess of other troubles aside from a big ass. But, I am telling you that if you are enjoying a little romance with your significant other or if you are enjoying the company of your BFF’s..it’s actually good for you to have a glass of wine or two.

I, of course, am partial to organic wines. Mainly because they aren’t made from chemically treated grapes and fruit. As I mentioned, I purchase my wine from my grocery store shelf and guess what? The organic and sulfide free wine at my grocery store is actually cheaper than the non organic. So all of you...go....not only can you drink wine and feel good about it...you can purcahse something organic without it killing your pocket book. It is a great day today.
Ciao.

I wish I was a wine girl - but I just don’t have a taste for it.  Maybe I should try a few different ones to see if I can develop a taste - or at the very least - get drunk

I had never really liked wine until I tried some down in Key West.  They had some fruit wines and even a chocolate orange wine.  We ended up buying 4 bottles of different ones. 

I can’t decide if my favorite is the chocolate orange or the watermelon.  I think that the watermelon tastes like Jolly Ranchers. 

If it is normal wine, then I won’t drink it since I don’t like it.

But now I know that I can at least drink a glass of wine with dinner occasionally.

I love wine.  I just wish it came in individual serving bottles!  (OK, well, some brands do, but those aren’t the ones I’d choose to drink.  Yikes.) If my husband and I open a bottle of wine, we have a hard time not drinking the whole thing.

Stupid yummy wine!  Why are you so good?

Wine is good.

I guess you could say there are some downsides - wine does contain calories, so if you are watching your intake you need to take that into account. Also, wine is a depressant and I’m pretty sure it has been shown that alcohol slows down your metabolism for a period of time after consumption (I am too lazy...er...busy right now to google it, but I know I have read articles about that in the past).

But, studies do seem to show that there are some health benefits from drinking wine, so if you like it, I say go ahead and enjoy a glass now and then!

There are so many different types of wine, and the flavors can be drastically different. I prefer white wine myself (it’s ok to chill the white stuff), somewhere in the middle of the sweetness scale. DH and I really like Riesling wines and some other German whites that I am not going to try spelling from memory. I also really enjoy White Zinfandel. These wines tend to have a light, fruity flavour. My sister loves those dry reds, which I find a bit hard to take. I keep trying to like red wine, but I don’t care for dry wine and it’s hard to find medium reds.

I like the Arbor mist kinds.. everything else gives me a headache from the sulfates in it.  I am not a huge drinker of it, maybe buy 4 bottles a year for special things.

Its one of those things that its ok for you to have it, it has some health benefits but its not essential like a vitamin is so I’ll skip it and save a few bucks.

Speaking of vitamins - anyone have side effects from there’s?

On the vitamin front… I take a shit ton of them and I get a tummy ache if I take certain ones on an empty stomach.  I’ve learned which ones bother me and which ones don’t so I’ve worked out the perfect scedule for taking them.

On wine sitch… I. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. WINE.  So much so that I’ve volunteered to clean out spit buckets at the Vancouver International Wine Festival just to score a free $100 ticket to the tasting… where I’ll be tasting and not spitting and crawling and not walking home after I enjoy all those yummy antioxidants.

Vitamins: I take a multi once per day. If I take it on an empty stomach, it makes me queasy. I actually have been told to take vitamins at night, that they do more for your body that way. So that is what I try to do. The most common reactions are from the coatings on them not the actual vitamins. Although some people do react strongly to things like zinc and iron since those two, your bod doesn’t naturally produce huge amounts of.

Wine: I think the good far outweighs the bad. I happen to enjoy it on occasion. Wine isn’t the only depressant out there. ALL alcohol is as well as chocolate. For me, it is my “thing” after a long hard week. I kick back, have a glass and just relax.

Queenies, tell me more about the organic wines! Names, please, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen them.

I prefer white - pinot grigio is my fave, but I know the reds are better, so I keep trying them.  Usually, red wine just makes me thirsty!

Queenie - you are right. I didn’t mean to say that wine is a depressant and other alcohols aren’t. And I absolutely agree that a balanced approach to health and weight loss can include a glass of wine now and then. I just meant to reinforce what you pointed out in your post - just because there are health benefits doesn’t mean you can go ahead and down huge quantities of wine. It’s all about moderation.