Wine!

From Queen Bee Magazine, Summer Issue

We all know alcohol is bad for us. We are repeatedly told by public health officials that we must limit ourselves to fourteen poxy units a week. Alcohol damages your health, your looks, your bank balance and makes you fat.

So what? So do men. But do we abstain from them? Do we heck.

Alcohol ­– namely wine – is one of life’s staples. For many, a day without wine is akin to a major electrical appliance catastrophe. We couldn’t manage without our fridge, for example, just as we can’t manage without a chilled glass of rosé at the end of the day.

Wine lifts the spirits. It relaxes us. Calms us. Our days are long and stressful! Wine helps alleviate the pressure of our busy lives. And, contrary to popular belief, it is good for us… extraordinarily good for us, in fact. Granted, we must limit ourselves to 175ml a day, maybe just a splash more, but that one precious glassful is the elixir of life. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, promoted wine as part of a healthy diet. He even went as far as saying it should be used to alleviate the pain of childbirth, which sounds infinitely more enjoyable than sucking on nitrous oxide for hours.

Red wine is king when it comes to delivering the best health benefits, although white wine has been proven to boost both lung health and function, so it might be worth considering incorporating a glass into your weekly quota; just so you can breathe easy…

As for the ruby red variety; where to start? It reduces depression and helps prevent a wide range of cancers from breast to colon to lung. It raises levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the body, which safeguard against heart disease and, amazingly, reduces the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by half compared to those who never touch a drop.

Red wine’s miracle ingredient is Resveratrol – a chemical found in red grape skin – and this stuff is literally the marvel of the medical world. It helps prevent everything from diabetes to blindness, ageing to sunburn damage!

So, go ahead! Open that bottle of Cabernet, kick back and enjoy – safe in the knowledge you are preserving your body from the inside out. And remember… if it was good enough for Jesus then it’s good enough for you. Cheers!