We’ve all heard various studies announce the health benefits of wine from time to time. It’s hard to keep track of these claims because there are so many – and oftentimes they even contradict each other.
To make it easy, I’d like to outline in a quick post a few of the basic health benefits of wine that have been proven in study after study.
First off, the health benefits of wine come from two aspects of wine: the grape part and the alcohol part.
Let’s explore the alcohol part first:
Although there are benefits associated with alcohol, there are also health risks. We all know that anything consumed in excess can lead to health problems. Moderate consumption of alcohol has been linked to a reduction in the rate of coronary heart disease and also a lower instance of all-cause mortality. But we also know that alcohol has lots of calories and can lead to obesity and liver problems.
But when you cook with wine, you boil off most of the alcohol so these benefits become marginal (as does the calorie content).
And that brings us to the benefits of the wine itself:
Women wine drinkers have fewer kidney stones
Studies have shown that wine won out in a study of the effects of 17 different beverages in reducing kidney stones. Wine’s effect was a 39% reduction – the highest of all beverages tested. Because this comparison was done with non-alcoholic beverages (tea, coffee, etc…) which also conferred benefits, we can probably assume that these benefits would extend to cooking with wine too.
Health benefits of wine phenolics
In addition to alcohol, wine has compounds called phenolics which confer flavor and health benefits. Studies have shown that wine phenolics can lead to a reduction in the “risk of dying from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease”. Over three dozen studies have shown this effect. So in addition to making wine taste good, these compounds are also good for your body!
Wine can reduce risk of upper digestive tract and prostate cancer
We’ve all probably heard the buzz about compounds such as resveratrol. Although heavy drinkers reported an increase in the risk of cancer, moderate drinkers showed a slight decrease in the risk for digestive tract cancers. It is believed that the compounds in wine are able to counter the negative effects of alcohol for moderate drinkers. But when you cook with wine, you don’t have any alcohol and so the benefits of these compounds can come out in full force.
In addition, studies have shown that countries that on average consume lots of polyphenol-containing foods and beverages (like wine) report a lower-risk of prostate cancer. The jury is still out as to the cause of this, but more studies are currently in the works.
No alcohol in red wine can be good for the heart
A study at UC Davis found that people who drank alcohol-free wine showed an increase in (+)-catechin in their blood. Catechin is the compound associated with heart benefits after consumption. Because the alcohol evaporates from wine as you cook with it, you may be left with the benefits of catechin in your meal.
A study in the UK found that compounds in red wine called polyphenols (derived from grape skins) can lead to a decrease in the production of a protein which can cause blood vessels to constrict resulting in a decrease of oxygen flow to the heart.
Conclusion:
There is fairly conclusive evidence that wine consumption can lead to many health benefits. There have been no studies about cooking with wine, but we can make some logical assumptions that because only alcohol and water evaporate when cooking, you’re left with the essence of the wine itself; namely polyphenols and anti-oxidants.
The best thing though is that cooking with wine is a great way to add a unique flavor to your cooking. Health benefits aside, food tastes great with it – and if anything else, it’s healthy for the soul!
Sources:
http://www.beekmanwine.com/prevtopab.htm
http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/redorwhite.htm?p=1
http://www.healthcastle.com/redwine0heart.shtml
