Want a good laugh, cry or hug? We deliver all 3 every day! Sign up for the YourTango newsletterWine, wine, wine – it seems mums everywhere are obsessing about wine, counting down the hours and minutes to wine o’clock begging many to ask the questions why mums drink wine? Well if this is you….. then it’s time to set the record straight about why mums drink wine…. So that when you need to pretend you that you’re not actually drinking wine when you actually are…well then, you can. As mum, on some days – you know when EVERYTHING is going wrong, and you’re racing around like some maniac, and the kids are being utter s***s and you feel like you’re one step away from having a cardiac. Well, on these days, you can at least drink some wine and perhaps head off that stress and cardiac at the pass by knowing that drinking a little wine will in fact do your heart some good – hurrah! (ok, probably not the main reason we drink it though!). Nothing says rock star more than a recycling bin overflowing with wine bottles – well, that’s basically as close to rock star-dom any of us are likely to get to anyway.

Let’s face it, when you have knocked out another disaster of a dinner for the family, you can either cry into your plate OR pour yourself a glass of wine, which will make it all taste so much better! Yup wine, our old friend, can be drunk without you having to leave your house or  getting out ofyour stained clothes and hurrah! can be drunk with your bra off too. Best enjoyed sitting on the coach in front of Netflix. Picture the scene: Pre glass of wine = vile mood, hell on earth. Post glass of wine = happy, happy, happy without a care in the world. And a happy mama makes for a happy household. Yup, wine is the ultimate in mood enhancers (that are legal) and stress reducers so when the day is going to crap, there’s nothing wrong with bringing wine o’ clock forward by an hour or two (judge away!). P.S. did you know that  a glass of wine a day can makes you less prone to depression? And Lord knows we could all do with some help on dodging that bullet. You know it to be true – once you’ve had a glass of wine all that mum guilt just goes…poof!

and vanishes away in a puff of smoke. Yup amazing what a transformation a glass of wine can make happen. Before a glass of wine, you probably feel about as attractive as a bucket of smashed crabs. After one glass of wine….woahhhhhh mama! You better watch out. Someone’s going to be in for a surprise when they get home. Well, you’ve got to keep the fire alive somehow, and it’s a good a way as any in my book! Seriously, just think of all the things you need to get off your chest! You could go and hemorrhage money sitting on a therapist’s couch…or you could just go and pour yourself a glass of wine and take the edge off. If you’re acting drunk because you haven’t slept properly for days on end, well then…you might as just go ahead and be the real deal! So there you go….if you’re wondering about whether to have a glass of wine tonight and needing any convincing….here it is. ***If you enjoyed this post please do give it a share on Facebook,  a Tweet on Twitter and like my Facebook page here for more.***

We always suspected wine was good for you. After all it’s made from grapes so it’s basically one of your five a day, amirite? Recently red wine (the best of all the wines) was shown to slow dementia, but there’s plenty more reasons why you should be guzzling the stuff. Not only does it taste like the nectar of the gods, but it could be the key to staying slim, having great sex and living a long and fruitful life. So pour yourself a glass of wine and settle in to read why it’s completely [read: if not drunk in excess] guilt free:famous red wine in usa Alcohol has that habit of bringing people together to get it on, but red wine is particularly useful in this area for both men and women.best sayings about wine An Italian study showed that women who drank more than two glasses on a daily basis had a higher sex drive than teetotallers, while a 2012 study showed that men who drank it had higher levels of testosterone, which is linked to having a high sex drive.best christmas wine deals 2014

In sum, red wine makes people horny. Mind you, best stick to a couple of glasses because research also shows that too much alcohol is likely to cause your libido to flop and excess alcohol consumption comes with its own problems. MORE: Wine-drinking women have better sex We can’t be certain this is true for guys (sorry), but a study of 19,220 women in the US found that those who drank red wine were less likely to be obese. The ladies who regularly drank a moderate amount of spirits, beer, red or white wine were all less likely to have gained weight over a 13-year period than their teetotal counterparts.best wine china 2015 But those whose drink of choice was red wine were more likely than anyone else to have stayed trim.buy cheap wine france Another victory for red wine.wine buying guide 2015

Red wine and chocolate contain the family of plant compounds called flavonoids – compounds that do all sorts of good things for you. At least, we know that they do if you’re a women – the study didn’t look at men (again, sorry guys). Researchers found that one of those good things was that they lowered insulin resistance. And that’s excellent, because high insulin resistance is linked to type 2 diabetes. Prof Tim Spector, from King’s College London, said: ‘This is an exciting finding showing that some components of foods that we consider unhealthy, like chocolate or wine, may contain some beneficial substances.’best italian orange wine Yeah, we know that a bottle of wine normally makes the memory of last night’s antics a little hazy, but science says it’s actually good for memories.spanish wine top 100

And who are we to argue with science? Scientists at Texas A&M said the antioxidant resveratrol, which is found in the skin of red grapes, helps age-related memory decline. They found that rats given the antioxidant had better blood flow, memory and brain growth. Prof Ashok Shetty said: ‘The study provides novel evidence that resveratrol treatment in late middle age can help improve memory and mood function in old age.’ Again, we must remind you of that old M-word again (that’s ‘moderation’, not ‘more’, people).best food and wine cities in france We always knew that wine made us happy. A study of 5,505 participants showed that moderate alcohol intake was strongly associated with a lower risk of depression. Yet again wine came out tops, with those drinking two to seven glasses a week having significantly lower rates of depression than other groups.

Heavy drinkers did have slightly higher depression rates, but the scientists in that particular study said the group was too small to be considered significant. However, there have been countless studies linking excess alcohol consumption to depression – ultimately it is a depressant and it affects the neurotransmittes in the brain that govern good mental health – so don’t abuse it… A 2012 study of 802 adults showed that wine drinkers live longer. This is one of those rare, rare studies where the scientists found that it didn’t matter if you were a bottle a night kinda person or a more restrained glass a night type. Both heavy and moderate wine drinkers lived longer than people who abstained completely.This article is meant as a light-hearted tribute to wine and its many genuine benefits. Any alcohol is best enjoyed in moderation. MORE: Wine lovers, you need to see this Christmas tree MORE: 15 things that are guaranteed to happen when you drink wine with your best mate