Page 25 - Tropic Magazine Issue 32

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.

25 • tropicnow.com.au