You mean wine is more than just ethanol and resveratrol?

This is Duff Raggio and I after he gave me a bottle of Pena Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 from the Piccetti family vineyards.  John Piccetti is Duff's best friend and is going teach me a little about wine.  I understand the biochemistry of benefits and detriments from ethanol and other compounds in various alcoholic beverages, but I know little about wine production and tasting.  That is where they can help me out.  In the meanwhile, here are some things for them to think about: 

Moderate alcohol intake (1-2 drinks/day depending on body weight) improves circulatory function reducing cardiovascular disease and increasing brain function with aging relative to either no drinking or higher drinking.  More than 2 drinks increases several cancers (respiratory tract, colon, liver, breast, esophagus, larynx and mouth), reduces grown hormone and testosterone production, sleep quality, brain function and mass, hydration (alcohol is a diuretic) and fat burning.  The latter occurs both because alcohol inhibits free fatty acid release from fat cells (forces our body to hold onto its fat) but also because ethanol metabolism shifts the Tricarboxylic Acid (Krebbs) Cycle so that fats are not burned and are created instead, generating fat accumulation wherever alcohol is metabolized, which is mostly in the liver.  This is why heavy drinking and eating very little food results in being extremely thin but with high levels of liver fat.  So drink enough to be happy AND still remember having been happy the next day.  That way you will be happy for extra years of life, particularly with dark beers (high in folate) and red wines that are high in resveratrol, which is the phytonutrient that activates the silent information regulator protein transcription factors that increase life span by reducing cell turnover, one of the two key pathways that potentially lengthen life during caloric restriction.

Comments

[Mike H]

Hi Doc,

I have a question for you, if you see this:

Any thoughts on when the best time to have that one or two drinks a day might be?

Best,

Mike H

[online doctor]

red wine is the most popular wine in the world, it has a lot benefits such protection from heart disease. Study shows and investigated the benefits of red wine may lowers the risk of heart attack for people with age of 30 to 50 percent.