Wine and health

摘要

I have long argued that wine consumed as part of a meal is particularly beneficial to one's health. The benefits result from the relaxation that occurs after the meal as the body's system slows down and stress levels reduce. The long lunch that one can still experience in some southern European countries is, from my own considerable and on-going experimentation, highly beneficial in stress reduction. An intriguing study on the potential heaLth benefits of minor autochthonous grape cultivars in Sardinia was presented at the In Vino Analytica Scientia conference in July last year. The project was based on the knowledge that there is a high number of centenarians in Sardinia (a blue zone demographic area). The 'Sardinia diet' consists of meat, sheep milk cheese (pecoririo and casu marzu) and fava beans, all washed down with at least two or three glasses a day of the indigenous red wine. The research suggests that the regional wine has a very high anti-oxidant status, thereby contributing to its health-promoting advantage. The specific compounds that give this anti-oxidant status are still under study. The health effect of the red wine, however, cannot be isoLated from that of the casu marzu cheese. This is a rotten pecorino containing live maggots, which may boost the body's immune system, but only if one consumes the live maggots. The locals also claim that the cheese is an aphrodisiac.