Page 25 - Tropic Magazine Issue 32
P. 25

TROPIC  •  HEALTH



















             A healthy drop


              RED WINE
             Tropic columnist Dr Alex
             Bernhardi confirms the health
             news we want to hear – red
             wine can be good for you.

             With so much news about purported
             health benefits of certain foods and
             drinks, it is hard to know what to believe   The history of humans consuming         In a nutshell
             and how to make sense of it.     alcoholic beverages is quite possibly   •  Drinking red wine in moderation
             Let’s take a deeper look into the different   100,000 years long and continues to    (three glasses per week) might have
             aspects of red wine. Red wine comes   enjoy a steady rise in popularity.    health benefits by lowering blood
             from grapes, which contain resveratrol   People consume alcohol for many   pressure and heart disease risk.
             and proanthocyanidins (responsible   reasons, including feeling more relaxed   •  If you chose to drink alcoholic
             for the red colour). These components   and less anxious in social settings.    beverages, red wine might be a
             belong to the flavonoids group, which   The body, however, perceives alcohol as   good choice because at least it
             are antioxidants. Antioxidants are well   a toxin and wants to get rid of it as fast   contains antioxidants.
             known to fight inflammation and lower   as possible, prioritising it over other   •  You don’t need to drink red wine for its
             the risk of heart disease and certain   processes that should be taking place.   health benefit – eating just 80 grams of
             cancers by protecting your cells    The liver goes into overdrive while alcohol   berries a day is equally beneficial.
             from damage.                     competes with other toxins that the body
             In a recent study (Queens’ University in   needs to expel, depleting the body of   If you are partial to a red wine, don’t
             Belfast and Kiel University in Germany)   many valuable nutrients along the way.   forget to consider buying organic as
             researchers found evidence that the   Therefore, any health benefits coming   well as preservative free if you
             flavonoids present in three glasses of red   from the grape-derived antioxidants   are conscious of reducing your
             wine per week was the ticket to achieving   need to be balanced against the toxic   toxic burden.
             a favourable reduction of blood pressure.   effects of the alcohol content. The exact   Obviously the same applies when you
             Does that mean six glasses would be even   effects of the alcohol component will vary   simply buy grapes.
             better? Unfortunately, the answer is no.   between individuals, genetic makeup,
             This is because wine typically contains   underlying health conditions and   Yours,
             nine to 16 per cent alcohol.     addiction susceptibility.              Dr Alex


                                                                                   MORE: doctoralex.com.au



                                               Good in more ways than one
                                               While coffee and dark chocolate are also widely known to contain healthy
                                               antioxidants, research shows they also boost brain function! Methylxanthines
                                               – a class of chemical found in the two food groups – is thought to promote
                                               sustained cognitive performance and protect brain neurons against illnesses
                                               like stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
                                               Source: Neurochemical Research magazine, 2019



             Dr Alex’s last column Finding ikigai in Issue 31 incorrectly said the male life expectancy in Australia is 89.9 years, whereas it is in fact 80.9 years.



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