Wine: its therapeutical uses

Antioxidants in red wine called polyphenols may help protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart.

I knew Wine is a very important part on French life. There cannot be a good lunch or dinner without a good bottle of wine. It always amazes me that in some restaurants wine is still cheaper than bottled water!

I was trying to learn more about wine, when one of my neighbours offered me a book entitled "Le vin et la santé". A book written by Doctor Eylaud. I was surprised to find that wine is not only a gastronomic pleasure, but that it has also been used for a long time for its therapeutic properties.

At least in central France, Wine has been used to relieve conditions such as anaemia, hypertension, hypotension, rheumatism, gout, obesity, dyspepsia among many other things. Unlike modern medical advice, the French used to drink wine even during pregnancy due to the richness in minerals of certain wines such us the reds from Bordeaux.

Red Wine to Relieve Indigestion

For Dyspepsia, for example, the popular tradition would recommend light white wines, low in alcoholic content and with sodium bicarbonate in its composition.

Sweet Wine to help with Low blood pressure

For Hypotension, that is low blood pressure, the recommended wine is a sweet white or a generous red wine. While for the opposite condition, hypertension, a dry white wine or a red one without tannins are recommended. To help treat obesity, it is preferable to drink a dry white wine or very young red ones.

There you are... another excuse to keep up the wine consumption!!

A "luxurious" treatment for anaemia, is a glass of champagne every day. But if you are not fond of the bubbles, you can always take a glass of red wine, preferably a Medoc.

To support the health benefits of this sparkling wine, there is also a joint study published on 2007 by the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the University of Reading and The University of Cagliari showing that moderate consumptions of Champagne may help the brain cope with the trauma of stroke, Alzheimer, and Parkinson. The research noted that the high amount of the antioxidant polyphenols in sparkling wine can help prevent deterioration of brain cells due to oxidative stress.

Against Depression:

Each time grandma felt an inclination to sadness or anger, she ran to the fridge to get her aperitif made of white wine and after that she smiled like the Mona Lisa the rest of the day!

To make this anti depressive you will need:

• 2 Litres of Gaillac Blanc -This is a dry white wine with low alcohol content.

• 400 gr. of sugar

• 50 gr. of Chicory roots. - because it simulates the appetite and sense of well being.

• 4 oranges, only the skin.

• 1 stick of cinnamon. Because of it's effects on the nervous system.

To prepare, put all the ingredients in a big bowl or bucket and leave to marinate for 4 days. Stir at least twice a day. The fifth day, you can bottle the contents and start drinking it.

For recovering after an illness

You will need:

• 1 Kg. Spinachs

• 1 bottle of red wine, preferably a Médoc.

• 3 spoons of honey

To prepare, extract the juice of the spinach, put it in a bottle and fill up to the top with the red wine. Add the honey, shake well and drink. You can have 2 glasses per day. Keep the bottle in the refrigerator.

To be honest, I much prefer to have a spinach salad and drink the bottle of wine. Even better, a spinach and Boursin quiche and wash it down with the bottle of wine... but there you are... the recipe is the recipe!

The recipe bases its efficacy on the properties of both the spinach and the wine. The spinach is rich in folic acid and iron salts easily absorbed by the body. While the Wine from the Médoc region is very rich in iron, helping the body to fight anaemia. This along with the tannin content which boosts vitamin C are great for recovering after a disease. Médoc wine is also rich in phosphorus which increases energy The potassium helps regularise the cardiac rhythm, improving muscular function as well as mental faculties. But the most important thing is that a Médoc is simply delicious...

Using Wine to heal Bruises

But the French grandmothers not only used wine for drinking or cooking. They also used wine for making a paste to put on top of bruises to help the healing. The grandmother of a friend used to boil parsley with red wine and reduce it to a paste in a mortar afterwards. She would put this paste several times a day over the bruise which according to my friend, healed it in no time at all.

A slight variation of the above is using bread soaked in red wine to put on top of the bruises.

To support popular tradition, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology published in 2006 a study showing the beneficial relationship of resveratrol, a compound found in all red wine (and black chocolate), in reducing the risk factors associated with Alzheimer's disease.

If you already drink red wine, do so in moderation. For healthy adults, that means:

• one drink a day for women of all ages and men older than age 65, and
• up to two drinks a day for men age 65 and younger.

The limit for men is higher because men generally weigh more and have more of an enzyme that metabolizes alcohol than women do.