This week we are addressing your questions on wine and wellness…what wines to drink if you are watching your weight, have migraines or even seasonal allergies. Find out which wines are the best to consume if you suffer allergies, headaches or just want to drop some pounds! White wines like Pinot Gris or low tannin red wines like Pinot Noir. Tannins, also found in chocolate, are known to cause Migraine headaches but number one reason for wine headaches is dehydration. Tyramine constricts then dilates blood vessels and Sav Blanc and Chard are lowest in this… Avoid: Tannic reds like Cabernet, Petite Sirah and Nebbiolo Wine: Elk Cove Pinot Gris, Oregon $18, If you are watching your weight choose lower alcohol, dry wines like Riesling for white or Beaujolais for red as these have the lowest calorie content. Most importantly watch your Portion control…Show what 3 and 6 oz looks like in glass. Wine during the meal will slow down eating…show how to make a wine sandwich.

Wine is part of the recipe of your meal. Avoid dessert wines like ice wine or Sauternes that are high in calories or high alcohol red wines Calculate Calories for Dry Wines: Ounces of wine x alcohol % x 1.6 = calories 12% Beaujolais: 5x12x1.6=96 – Saved 24 calories times 365 days that’s 2.5 pounds!! Wine: Henry Fessy Beaujolais Villages, Burgundy France $15 If drinking wine gives you symptoms like congestion or headaches it might just be histamines are the culprit. Try drinking dry whites like Sauvignon Blanc or sparkling wines like Cava or Prosecco as they are lower in histamines than red wines. If you have a sensitivity to sulfites, you may need to avoid all wine as sulfites are naturally created during fermentation. People sensitive to sulfites will get hives and/or asthmatic reactions. Depending on the severity of your reaction you can experiment with organic wines that have no added sulfites. Red wines which are high in histamines that can cause an allergy/Sinus like headache.

If sulfites are a problem then avoid sweet white wines that tend to have higher sulfite content. Sulfites are more prevalent in dried fruits or lunch meats than they are in wine. Wine: Brancott Estate Flight Song Sauvignon Blanc 2013, 9% alc $12 – good for weight loss too! 6/5 featured  speaker at the Worcester Women’s Leadership Conference, Worcester, MA 6/19 Wine & Laughter at Crow Vineyards, Kennedyville, MDCheers to Red Wine It’s an integral part of culture, history and anthropology. Enjoying it is an art form – both in tasting practice and culinary preparation. There are many reasons to appreciate wine, but did you know that from an anti-aging point of view, it’s one of the best things that you can do for your health? Find out why you need potassium and how to get enough in your diet! Bob Harper's Gut-Busting Plan It’s an old-fashioned idea – but it still works: eating less and moving more are the winning combination when it comes to...

6 Reasons Why a Little Glass of Wine Each Day May Do You Goodbest place to drink wine in europeMay 25, 2012 -- Drinking a daily glass of red wine not only tastes good to many people, but it's also good for the bacteria lining your large intestine.sweet red wine pinterest A new Spanish study suggests that sipping about 9 ounces of Merlot or a low-alcohol red wine changed the mix of good and bad bacteria typically found in the colon in ways that can benefit your health.best wine boxes 2014 uk Bacteria may sound like a bad thing to have in your intestinal tract, but having a balanced mix of them actually helps to digest food, regulate immune function, and produce vitamin K (which plays a key role in helping the blood clot).best red wine for casual drinking

Since the study results showed that Merlot and low-alcohol red wine had similar positive effects on intestinal bacteria, researchers suspect it's not due to the alcohol but to the polyphenol compounds found in the wine.top wine list chicago Polyphenols are helpful plant-based compounds found in a variety of foods and beverages. best wine store parisBesides red grapes, many other fruits and vegetables are rich sources of polyphenols, as are coffee, tea, chocolate, and some nuts. Previous research has looked at whether polyphenols in the diet can influence the balance of intestinal bacteria. This study sought to explore whether drinking red wine can have a similar prebiotic effect. Prebiotics are substances you eat that help promote the growth of good gut bacteria. In this small study, which appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers followed 10 healthy middle-aged men.

For the first 15 days of the study, the men had no wine or other alcohol. This was followed by three 20-day periods in which the men were given one of three beverages to drink each day: They received either 9 ounces of Merlot, 9 ounces of low-alcohol-content red wine, or about 3 ounces of gin. Unlike the red wines, gin contains no polyphenols, so it served as a comparison. Throughout the study, volunteers were asked not to change their diets or exercise habits. They were also told not to drink any additional alcohol. Blood, urine, and stool samples were collected from each man during all four study periods. And their weights and blood pressures were monitored. The findings showed that the balance of intestinal bacteria shifted in the men in a similar way whether they drank the Merlot or low-alcohol red wine. In both cases, they had a larger percent of certain beneficial gut bacteria. After drinking the polyphenol-rich beverages, the men also had lower blood pressure.