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Alcohol & Health

Resveratrol, Health Benefits, Red Wine

There Are More Old Wine Drinkers Than Old Doctors

By Dr. W. Gifford Jones

Why do I have a glass of red wine with my evening meal? I'm convinced it's prudent to add "Resveratrol" to my circulation every day. Besides I've always thought that Sir William Osler one of this country's greatest physicians was right. And why would I want to disagree with Cardinal Richelieu? Even some Ministers of Health have finally admitted to wines medicinal value.

Stephen Dorell, the British Secretary of State for Health, recently stated that up to four alcoholic drinks a day for men and two or three for women is beneficial in revelant groups. Dr. Philip, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health, announced, "In my personal view alcohol in moderation is beneficial. There was a significant bias in the past against drinking." But so far there's been nary a peep from any Minister of Health in Canada!

It's taken the U.S. and U.K a long time to agree with Armand Cardinal Richelieu. In 1623 he wrote, "If God forbade drinking, would he have made wine so good?'

Osler, a distinguished teacher at McGill and Johns Hopkins Universities, stated that "Wine is milk for the elderly". It's been known for years that moderate drinkers live longer than either teetotallers or alcoholics.

Over 30 studies in the past 20 years conclude that the level of two drinks of wine a day is associated with significant decrease in the risk of heart attack. Dr. Arthur Klasky is a world renowned researcher at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in the U.S. His study of 12,000 men and women found that red wine drinkers seemed to be more protected from coronary heart disease than beer and liquor drinkers.

In 1993 The World Health Organization and The Harvard Medical School of Public Health both concluded that wine in moderation was part of a healthy diet.

But for years medical researchers and doctors have been talking out of the corners of their mouths. They agreed in private that studies showed the health benefits of moderate drinking. But they were nevertheless unwilling to endorse the fact publicly.

They claimed that by doing so people would drink excessively, develop cirrhosis, hypertension, create havoc on the highways and in their own families. We all know this can happen. But we don't stop selling cars because some idiots drive at 120 miles an hour. Moreover, it's unethical not to inform those who are moderate drinkers of the benefits derived.

How does a glass of wine fight heart attack? Unlike some readers I have to put up with winter snow. But there's one advantage to living in Ontario. It's "Resveratrol Country".

Canadian wines contain greater concentrations of Resveratrol than most other wines in the world. It's believed that Resveratrol helps to decrease the risk of atherosclerosis and heart attack.

It's an ingredient not found in any other alcoholic beverage. In fact, apart from small amounts in peanuts, red wine is virtually the only source of Resveratrol in the human diet.

To purchase a wine with a higher Resveratrol content look for the three letters VQA (Vintners' Quality Alliance) on the label. It's a guarantee that the grapes used are 100 percent Canadian. Wine has several effects on the cardiovascular system. It dilates blood vessels. It makes blood platelets more slippery so less likely to stick together forming a fatal blood clot. It decreases the amount of fibrinogen in the blood, a small particle also associated with the clotting mechanism.

A glass of wine is a powerful antioxidant that helps to eliminate free radicals. Free radicals are believed to cause ageing and degenerative problems such as heart disease and cancer. Flavonoids present in red wine are 20 times more numerous than those present in white wine. And their antioxidant effect is 10 to 20 times greater than vitamin E.

Moderate drinking also increases high density lipoproteins (HDL), the good cholesterol, that removes excess cholesterol from the blood. And never forget the relaxing effects of wine.

Here's an ironical situation. In 1994 Drs M.R. Lipp and D. Whitten estimated that "if every adult North American drank two glasses of wine a day, heart disease would be cut by 40 percent and 40 billion saved annually". Yet wine is taxed as a luxury item!

Another incongruity. Recently a speech on lifestyle which I had prepared for high school students was cancelled because the school board discovered my book "The Healthy Barmaid" contained one chapter on the medical benefits of moderate drinking! We all know what else much worse, is accepted in schools today.

I'll continue to consume "Resveratrol" at dinner. And as I enjoy it I'll keep in mind that "There are more old wine drinkers than old doctors!" And if Cardinal Richelieu is wrong I'll take him to task when we finally meet!


W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of Harvard. Dr. Walker's website is: Docgiff.com

My book, �90 + How I Got There� can be obtained by sending $19.95 to:

Giff Holdings, 525 Balliol St, Unit # 6,Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1E1

Pre-2008 articles by Gifford Jones
Canada Free Press, CFP Editor Judi McLeod