Food

Hemingway called it “the most civilized thing in the world,” Ambrose Bierce said it was, “God’s next best gift to man,” and the Scot scholar John Stuart Blackie went even further, declaring it “the drink of the gods.”

As for whether a god would drink wine, there are as many opinions as there are gods and religions. Greek mythology’s Dionysius and his Roman incarnation, Bacchus, did not shrink from celebrating the excesses of intoxication in the most shocking ways. In contrast the Qur’an warns of the dangers of wine and forbids it for mortals but promises that in paradise the faithful will be given “rivers of wine of joyous taste.” Jews are not forbidden alcohol, but many follow the traditional laws and drink only kosher wines. Christian religions vary in practice according to their interpretation of scriptures about wine. The Bible certainly stresses the pitfalls of over-indulgence but contains examples of those who enjoyed it in moderation. Within its pages one young man is even advised, “drink no longer water, but use a little wine for the stomach’s sake and for your often infirmities.”

These last words illustrate that, whether or not it can rightfully be called “the drink of the gods,” wine has long been considered to have health-enhancing properties. Indeed, the Romans believed it maintained youth and restored vigor and it now seems they may have been on to something.

Zipping ahead a couple of millennia, we find this encouraging November 2006 press release from Harvard scientists: “Researchers have used a single compound to increase the lifespan of obese mice . . . The research, led by investigators at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging, is the first time that the small molecule resveratrol has been shown to offer survival benefits in a mammal . . . resveratrol is found in red wines.” Researchers considered their findings “positive clinical indicators” that similar results would occur in humans.

Anti-aging properties are not the only health benefits of wine being studied by researchers, however. Michael Downey points out another in the January 2003 issue of Better Nutrition: “More than 100 scientific reports since 1991 provide strong evidence that wine consumption prevents heart disease,” he writes. Downey then asks rhetorically, “But didn’t some studies point to red wine over white? And wasn’t there some suggestion that grape juice is just as beneficial?” His conclusion after fully fermenting the fruit of his research is that, yes—red wine is more protective than white, and no—grape juice isn’t quite as effective as wine. Almost—but not quite. In fact, he says, the alcohol plays a role in intensifying the beneficial effects. “Every glass of wine contains about 200 different polyphenols, and many are antioxidants, which slow the damaging cell oxidation process,” says Downey, and while purple grape juice can confer many of the same health benefits as wine, he insists “it takes three times as much grape juice to produce the same effect; wine’s alcohol acts as a solvent, extracting greater amounts of flavonoids.”

While it’s relatively old news that moderate consumption of almost any kind of alcohol decreases the risk of heart disease, Downey points out that many other benefits specific to wine have lately been added to the list. A glass of red wine with dinner at night [and yes, there is a connection to having it alongside an evening meal] reduces the risk of cancer, peptic ulcers, respiratory infections, impotence, gall stones and kidney stones, while increasing cognitive function and memory.

Great news, if it’s true—and Downey has certainly done an admirable job of sifting through the research and presenting it to his readers. However, those who prefer to see the studies for themselves can usually do so, as many of them are accessible through Internet libraries.