Red Wine Benefits

Red Wine Benefits

Health effects of wine

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Health effects of wine
The issue of wine and health is a topic of considerable discussion and research. Wine has a long history of use as an early form of medication, being recommended variously as a safe alternative to drinking water, an antiseptic for treating wounds and a digestive aid, as well as a cure for a wide range of ailments from lethargy and diarrhea to easing the pain of child birth.[1] Ancient Egyptian Papyri and Sumerian tablets dating back to 2200 BC detail the medicinal role of wine, making it the world's oldest documented man-made medicine.[2] Wine continued to play a major role in medicine until the late 19th and early 20th century, when changing opinions and medical research on alcohol and alcoholism cast doubt on the role of wine as part of a healthy lifestyle and diet.

Wine has a long history of use in the world of medicine and health.

In the late 20th and early 21st century, fueled in part by public interest in reports by the U.S. news broadcast 60 Minutes on the so-called "French Paradox", the medical establishment began to re-evaluate the role of moderate wine consumption in health. Studies have since shown positive benefits of the phenolic compound resveratrol with continued research attempting to better understand its functions in wine and the body.[3]

Health effects of wine

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Historical role of wine in medicine
Early medicine was intimately tied with religion and the supernatural, with early practitioners often being priests and magicians. Wine's close association with ritual made it a logical tool for these early medical practices. Tablets from Sumerian culture and papyri from Ancient Egypt dating to 2200 BC include recipes for wine based medicines, making wine the oldest documented man made medicine.[2]

Early history
When the ancient Greeks introduced a more systematized approach to medicine, wine still retained its prominent role. The Greek physician Hippocrates recommended wine as...