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Why a glass of wine with dinner is good for you
A glass of wine is able to slow things down in the gut, reducing the angst faced by your liver, as all the calories you’ve just consumed coming rushing in
Wine lovers already know a sip or two, is good for you.
The benefits of wine
Scientists continue to debate the mechanism behind this ancient tonic which brings benefit to the heart, mind and soul.
We all know…………a touch of alcohol is able to take some of the psychosocial stress out of eating dinner, with the in-laws. But what about the biological stress of eating dinner ?
Can a glass of wine help ?
De-stressing at dinner
A team from the University Hospital of Zurich, set about investigating the pros and cons of drinking a little alcohol, when consuming that big Sunday lunch.
It turns out it can be de-stressing, for the digestive tract.
And this…………is SO beneficial, especially if you are insulin resistant.
Come for a fondue
The team invited 20 volunteers to dip into a cheese fondue.
If you’re wondering why fondue ? Remember this is a Swiss study.
The volunteers, 14 males and 6 females, were all healthy and relatively skinny i.e. they had normal body mass index (average BMI = 23.6). The volunteers tucked into cheese fondue on two different occasions, a week apart.
Cheese and wining
On one occasion they enjoyed a little wine, with their cheese fondue and then rounded off their decadent meal, with a glass of water, 90 minutes later. On the other occasion, they were tea totalling. Quite literally, they were served black tea with the meal and a glass of plain old water 90 minutes later.
The research team kept tabs on the digestive tracts activities, through regular breath tests.
Digestive system takes a breather
And….. just like the brain slows down a little following a tot or two of alcohol, the digestive tract relaxes too.
Digestion of the fondue dinner slowed down.
This can be seen by measuring how quickly a radiolabelled molecule moves through the system. The glass of wine slowed things down significantly.
Gastric emptying after ingestion of cheese fondue taken with white wine or black tea. Copyright Henriette Heinrich et al.
But, the gut still worked.
Slow but still working
Gastric emptying ticked along nicely, so there was no danger of things screeching to a halt resulting in indigestion.
Now contrary to what you might expect, slowing things down IS a good thing.
Metabolically speaking – it reduces stress.
Specifically postprandial stress.
Eating is stressful
This is the angst faced by your liver, as all the calories you’ve just consumed, come rushing into the liver for “processing”. When things come into the liver from the small intestine, thick and fast, the liver has to work really hard.
How hard depends on what precisely was in the meal.
Items that are particularly challenging are fructose and carbs, especially high glycemic carbs, because they’re loaded with readily available glucose.
Slowing things down a little – relieves the pressure.
Dulling the sugar spike
This research suggests a glass of wine, with dinner, is able to make dinner a slightly lower glycemic affair, giving the enzymes involved a “fighting” chance to process all the sugar, without a sugar spike.
The absence of an enormous sugar spike, will mean that the pancreas isn’t forced to push out mass quantities of insulin, in a frantic attempt to get things back under control.
So a glass of wine, with dinner, helps rein in insulin.
A glass of wine with dinner
So don’t be too afraid to enjoy a glass of wine, with good friends and good food.
It really is good for you.
BUT REMEMBER – one glass takes the edge off, more alcohol than this can flatten the system, leaving you a little more stressed, not less. And wine like most things that taste good, is not calorie free !
But it does create BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY when consumed in moderation with a meal.
NOTE : If you are pregnant, don’t drink alcohol, it can negatively impact your baby’s development.
Further reading
Why a low-fat twinkie is not a diet food
Low-fat food items, contain the same amount of sugar as their full fat counterparts, sometimes a little more and it’s the sugar which makes you fat
Watching your figure could make you lose your marbles
Diet cold drinks are an easy way cut calories, BUT as you diligently cut those calories in your favourite drink, you inadvertently load up the alcohol levels.
Those weekend beers are making you insulin resistant
Your beer belly is not being caused by a calorie problem per se, even if you’re eating too much and exercising too little, the problem is routed in the alcohol
