ANTI-AGING TIPS
HEALTH BENEFITS OF RED WINE

Anti-Aging Tips: The Health Benefits of Red Wine
By Donovan Baldwin

For many, the use of alcohol by a senior citizen can be a source of controversy.

If you have normally enjoyed the moderate use of alcohol throughout your adult life, it can be pretty insulting and upsetting when someone tries to take that away from you or put limits on you as if you were a teenager again.  Being treated as if you no longer have the ability to handle adult life in a responsible way can make you just plain mad!

To view the issue of alcohol use by a senior citizen from the perspective of your children or caregivers, it is a fact that alcohol could be a medical problem during this period when health issues seem to become more central to your daily life.

Surely, most of us, not you of course, are no longer able to deal as effectively with the consumption of alcohol in large, and regular quantities, as we were in our younger days. Why, I remember back in the 60's when I was stationed in Germany, and I went to the Oktoberfest in Munich.  You know, in just one night, this fraulein and I drank SO much...

Well, that's another story, but you know what I mean.

While we probably would be best advised to abstain from alcohol completely in our senior years, and I certainly do not want to encourage anyone to START drinking any alcoholic beverages in their senior years, I do have some good news about the health benefits of red wine for those who do drink and would like to have an excuse for a glass or two from time to time.

However, medical science tells us that one glass of red wine taken before bed could possibly be an excellent health benefit in itself. This is not new information even though the medical world would like us to think this was a big breakthrough.

There are many references going back for centuries which say that one of the health benefits of red wine is that it aids in the digestive process. This is even alluded to in the Bible. There are some studies which indicate that it can help by breaking down some of the components of food, and the contemplative feeling which one feels after a good meal accompanied by a glass of red wine must certainly be one of the health benefits of red wine.

It is interesting, although unscientific, to note, by the way, that many happy healthy cultures regularly include red wine as part of their normal course of existence. Often, these peoples, the French, for example, tend to eat foods which are said to clog arteries and destroy the heart yet live longer, healthier lives than those who eschew such things!

One of the health benefits of red wine is its ability to help prevent some forms of heart disease in some people. This is not to say that red wine is a medicine, or that it WILL prevent heart disease, but that statistics tend to show, and studies seem to indicate, that a glass or two of red wine a day will probably reduce the risk of heart disease. An antioxidant compound called Resveratrol seems to be the main factor in red wine's ability to help control cholesterol, keep arteries healthy, and perhaps even help control obesity!

However, it won't do much good to drink a glass of wine and eat a container of ice cream every day!

In today's world of stress and worry, it is interesting to note that a glass of red wine can help calm the nerves.  Surely, almost anything which brings a moment of peace into our lives must be of value. Could relieving stress be another of the health benefits of red wine?

Not only are we discussing how red wine affects the population at large, but, as you can see from the few points above, settling on a glass or two of red wine a day, if you already are accustomed to drinking alcohol, can be one of the anti-aging tips for seniors we hope to impart on this website.

We have not even gotten to the facts that red wine is a formidable antioxidant and helps resist the aging process through the destruction of free radicals, or that it can possibly reduce the pain of arthritis! It can do this by stopping the activation of the gene, cyclozygenase-2 (cox-2).  Cox-2 is suspected of creating the inflammation that causes arthritis pain.

As I mentioned, I hope to be placing more anti-aging tips on this site over time, but for the moment let's just hope you got some beneficial information out of this discussion on the health benefits of red wine.

Want more anti-aging tips? Read this article on How to Reverse the Aging Process.