Diet/NutritionHere's What Happens When You Drink Red Wine Every NightMandy OaklanderFor more, visit TIME Health.Alcohol is the Goldilocks of the nutrition world. Too much can be destructive to your health, raising your blood pressure and your risk of developing several kinds of cancer. Too little may hold you back from some of the benefits that moderate drinkers enjoy, like lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, mortality and type-2 diabetes.The amount that’s just right, according to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, might be a nightly glass of wine with dinner—for some people, anyway.Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel wanted to look at how safe and effective it is for a specific group of people—those with well-controlled type-2 diabetes and who had a low risk for alcohol abuse—to drink moderately. People with type-2 diabetes are more likely than the general population to develop cardiovascular disease and have lower levels of heart-protective HDL cholesterol, the authors note.

They chose 224 people who fit this profile, and who didn’t drink wine currently, then assigned them to start drinking one of three things. At dinner, the people in the study were told to drink five ounces of one of the following beverages: mineral water, dry white wine or dry red wine. best bc white wines 2016Under the guidance of dietitians, they also followed a Mediterranean diet without calorie restrictions—and kept it up for two years.best wine themed giftsIntermittently, they took questionnaires and were subjected to follow-ups, including blood draws at the start of the study, six months in and at 24 months, so the scientists could look at biomarkers of glycemic control, lipids and liver function.best wine west village

RelatedDiet/NutritionHere’s Why It Feels Like You Always Have Room for DessertDiet/NutritionHere’s Why It Feels Like You Always Have Room for DessertThey found that the red wine drinkers had significantly increased their levels of good HDL cholesterol and had a more beneficial cholesterol ratio compared to the group that drank water. wine hong kong 2015They were also the only group to experience a significant drop in components of metabolic syndrome. top wine shops chicagoPeople who drank either red or white wine also reported better sleep quality than the group that drank water, and the researchers found no significant adverse effects with any group.good wine bottles gifts(It's worth making it explicit that those who drank alcohol, drank just one glass per night, with meals.)“wine online uk cheap

This is what I’ve been telling people for years based on observational data,” says Dr. James O’Keefe, chief of preventive cardiology at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, who was not involved in the study. top 10 wine based cocktails“It seems to me that my patients who drink red wine in moderation tend to do better, and this really solid gold-standard kind of research confirms our intuitions about the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol intake.”best food to serve with wineO’Keefe wasn’t surprised that the best results came from the group drinking red wine—which had resveratrol levels 13-fold higher than the white wine, according to the study. “Partly it’s the benefits of the alcohol, but red wine also contains a lot of unique antioxidants that are hard to get other places,” O'Keefe says.

And pairing it with dinner, like they did in the study, is key.“If you have a glass of red wine with your evening meal tonight, your peak blood sugar, if you measured it an hour later, would be about 30% lower than if you hadn’t had the wine,” O’Keefe says. The post-meal spike in sugar is one of Americans’ main sources of inflammation, which contributes to everything from diabetes to dementia to heart disease and arthritis, he adds. “It makes your system more able to sop up the sugar and the calories that you’re consuming in the meal if you have a little alcohol before,” he says.But there’s a disclaimer, of course. Drinking every day can be a "slippery slope that a lot of people can’t safely navigate," O’Keefe says. “If they start drinking daily and they drink a bottle or two a day, that’s a disaster.”For those who can safely imbibe, one glass of dry red wine—like pinot noir or Cannonau—with the largest meal of the day is the very best pairing, O’Keefe says.

“If you’re going to drink red wine, this study is a good reminder to do it the old fashioned way: drink it with a Mediterranean meal high in vegetables and fish and lower in meat, with fruit for dessert and using olive oil. Doing it in a social, relaxed setting also goes a long way to improving health and happiness.” QUIZ: Should You Eat This or That? Which is better for you: Half cup of ice cream or 3 scoops of sorbet?1 of 16Red wine and resveratrol: Good for your heart?Red wine and something in red wine called resveratrol might be heart healthy. Find out the facts, and hype, regarding red wine and its impact on your heart.By Mayo Clinic Staff Red wine, in moderation, has long been thought of as heart healthy. The alcohol and certain substances in red wine called antioxidants may help prevent coronary artery disease, the condition that leads to heart attacks. Any links between red wine and fewer heart attacks aren't completely understood. But part of the benefit might be that antioxidants may increase levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) and protect against cholesterol buildup.

While the news about red wine might sound great if you enjoy a glass of red wine with your evening meal, doctors are wary of encouraging anyone to start drinking alcohol, especially if you have a family history of alcohol abuse. Too much alcohol can have many harmful effects on your body. Still, many doctors agree that something in red wine appears to help your heart. It's possible that antioxidants, such as flavonoids or a substance called resveratrol, have heart-healthy benefits. Red wine seems to have heart-healthy benefits. But it's possible that red wine isn't any better than beer, white wine or liquor for heart health. There's still no clear evidence that red wine is better than other forms of alcohol when it comes to possible heart-healthy benefits. Antioxidants in red wine called polyphenols may help protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart. A polyphenol called resveratrol is one substance in red wine that's gotten attention. Resveratrol might be a key ingredient in red wine that helps prevent damage to blood vessels, reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) and prevents blood clots.

Some research shows that resveratrol could be linked to a lower risk of inflammation and blood clotting, which can lead to heart disease. But other studies found no benefits from resveratrol in preventing heart disease. More research is needed to determine if resveratrol lowers the risk of inflammation and blood clotting. Tangney CC, et al. Cardiovascular benefits and risks of moderate alcohol consumption. Accessed Sept. 3, 2016. Mukamal KJ, et al. Overview of the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption. Bonow RO, et al., eds. Nutrition and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. In: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 10th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Alcohol and heart health. Diaz-Gerevini GT, et al. Beneficial action of resveratrol: How and why? Sahebkar A, et al. Lack of efficacy of resveratrol on C-reactive protein and selected cardiovascular risk factors — Results from a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.