Wine and Heart Health

Here we go again. Another new study condones moderate wine intake for heart disease. Personally, as a nutritionist I hate these studies. Maybe for those that really to have very modest intake of wine it may be helpful, but honestly, we should be promoting studies on the numerous health benefits of fruits, vegetables, and whole grain foods which are much more supportive to our over all health and weight management. Wine still provides empty calories at about 100 calories for four or five ounces, which isn’t that much. A person could eat a few small pieces of fresh fruit or four servings of vegetables and obtain more numerous health benefits for the same amount of calories.

And to be honest very few people I know actually consume "moderate" amounts of wine, the quantity I mentioned above (men get double the amount). Too much wine can be addictive, elevate triglycerides, contribute to abnormal heart rhythms and raise breast cancer in women. Let's focus on other basic lifestyle behaviors instead to improve cardiovascular function like controlling cholesterol, blood pressure, and weight. Let's exercise regularly, quit smoking, and eat out less at fast food restaurants. Not only only do these practices improve our heart health they improve over all health and well-being in general!