Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Cheers, If Nothing Else

They told us to drink a glass of red wine if we wanted to live long. Red wine it is, then.

The reasons for our Cabernet or Merlot are well documented. Numerous studies suggest that moderate alcohol consumption helps protect against heart disease by raising HDL (good) cholesterol and reducing plaque accumulations in the arteries. Alcohol also has a mild anti-coagulating effect, keeping platelets from clumping together to form clots. Both can reduce risk of heart attack. Besides, drinking a glass of wine a day is a lot more fun than eating an apple in that same time span and since both keep the doctor away -- .

But wait. This just in.

Consuming as little as one alcoholic drink per day may increase the risk of several types of cancer.

Huh?

I'm going to let the heart guys duke it out with the cancer guys. In the meantime, I've decided to enjoy my wine. I'll just eat an apple, too.

These days we can't be too careful.

3 comments:

Leslie said...

I heard dark chocolate is good for your heart too. Red wine and dark chocolate. Mmmm.

Anonymous said...

Yes, but didn't I read somewhere that dark chocolate, studies indicate, may or may not cause high blood pressure. Or is it low blood pressure. Perhaps I'm mistaken and it has been identified as a direct contributor to crooked teeth.
It's all very confusing.

Marnie said...

Dark chocolate calms nerves. Wine makes blood flow to and from the heart. If it's all the same, I'll have 2 glasses of wine and a little chocolate. By the time I'm through indulging, I won't really care what does what.