Wine to drink when trying to be healthy

Wine to drink when trying to be healthy

It's the time of year when everyone is focused on their health and what they can do to improve it. There are more benefits to having your glass a wine, or two if you are male, then you think. Read on to find out the benefits found in each variety of wine.

Dry Reds

Red wine for you health guide

Ruby red wines are the healthiest wines, with more antioxidants than all the other varieties. The antioxidants are found in the grape skins, which aren't removed during fermentation. The antioxidants the dark skins provide have been linked to health benefits including heart disease protection, and possibly longevity. Resveratrol found in red wine is said to help protect your blood vessels and many prevent blood clots.

It has been noted that wines from southwest France and Sardinia tend to have higher levels of antioxidants. On average, wines from these two areas had five times as many as the wines from Spain, South America, the U.S., and Australia

WiseGuys Recommendation: Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon, Erath Pinot Noir or Robert M. Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon

Rosé

Rose wine guide

Generally, rosé can be made using red and white wine grapes, but the “skin contact” time is shorter than with red wine and orange wine. For red wine, it may be one to two months; whereas for rosé, it’s often 2 to 20 hours. Less contact time means fewer antioxidants. When it comes to choosing between white wine and rosé, rosé is healthier because it contains more antioxidants.

WiseGuys Recommendation: Whispering Angel Rose, Aime Roquesante Rose or Ava Grace California Rose

Dry Whites

In white winemaking, the skins are typically removed just after the grapes are pressed. There is generally no “skin contact” time, which means phytonutrients from the skin don’t make their way into the wine. White wine helps to prevent breast cancer, lung disease, and even slows aging. Dry white wine is a "bad" choice, it's just missing some of the potentially protective properties of its more colorful counterparts.

WiseGuys Recommendation: Rombauer Chardonnay, Cantina Zaccagnini Pinot Grigio or Prophecy Savignon Blanc

Health benefits for white wine

Sweet Whites

Sweet white wines are sweet because, of course, they contain more sugar. For example, a five-ounce pour of Moscato contains 21 grams of carb, with 13 as sugar. Compare that to the same portion of chardonnay, which has 3 grams of carb with 1 as sugar. Think of these varieties as dessert, and make them occasional treats.

WiseGuys Recommendation: Rosa Regal, LaPerlina Semi Sparkling Moscato or Roscato Rosso Dolce Sweet Red

wine calories

Organic Wine

When looking at healthy wine the best choice is always organic wine, both because it's better for the environment, and to avoid pesticide residues. Organic wines also don’t contain added sulfites, preservatives that can trigger nasty side effects for some people, from a stuffy nose and sneezing to asthma-like symptoms and headaches. Whatever the type, choose organic whenever you can.

WiseGuys Recommendation: Our Daily Red Wine, Frey Organic Pinot Nior or White Wine 

Organic white wine benefits

Conclusion

Make sure you don't go overboard. The current nutrition and health guidelines recommend a maximum of one drink a day for women, and two for men. For wine, one drink is defined as five ounces, which is a little less than the size of a yogurt container. And nope, your drink allowance doesn't “roll over”—meaning you can't abstain for three days, and then polish off a whole bottle in one night. An alcohol intake above moderate increases the risk of heart disease, and is linked to a higher risk of liver cirrhosis, high blood pressure, cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract, and stroke. It's also important to note that even in moderation, wine and other types of alcohol are associated with a greater risk of breast cancer. Plus, a new study concluded that more than five drinks a week may shorten life span.

What all this means is that how much you drink is far more important than what you drink. And if you have a family history of breast cancer, not drinking at all may offer the best protection. As for those protective antioxidants in red wine, you can gobble them up in the form of whole dark grapes, or add a splash of Concord grape juice to your H2O.