Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Wines for Health without Headaches

Oh, golly. I think we’re going to have to file this one under the category of every body is different, and one person’s reaction to red wine will be better (or worse) than someone else’s.

What causes wine headaches? What makes red wine healthy? Are these two different topics to tackle? It seems that way, however, they are related if you suffer from wine headaches but are interested in red wine for health.

Talk about divergent information and ideas and study results about what causes headaches from wine drinking… It could make a person need a drink!

Ok. What causes wine headaches? Again, every person is going to be a bit different.

When the wine contains both histamines and tyramines, this can result in headaches. Histamines dilate blood vessels, and tyramines constrict them. Combined? Potential headache. How do you know if tyramines & histamines are an issue? Do you get headaches after eating aged cheeses or smoked/cured meats?

Tannins provide much of the dryness in red wine, and can cause red wine headaches by increasing the release of serotonin in the brain, according to one source. Apparently, very dry red wines will contain lots of tannins, which can turn around and cause lots of headaches.

If the wine contains lots of cogeners, which are chemicals formed during the fermentation process, it might cause more headaches. Red wines contain more of these chemicals than white.

Surprise! It might not be sulfites, or, if you are in the 1% of the population allergic to sulfites, it might. A wine headache after a wine high in sulfite levels may be due to depleted vitamin B levels combined with dehydration.

The region in which a grape is grown may make a difference, and even the container in which the wine is fermented may impact the headache-inducing qualities (or lack thereof).

See what I mean?? Confusing!!

One way to help avoid both a headache and (or) a hangover? Drink water. Staying hydrated is important, and wine, while delicious, doesn’t actually help you do so.

Now, what makes red wine healthy? This, again, is up for debate. Red wine is fermented with the grape skins. Those grape skins contain resveratrol, a polyphenol, which is an antioxidant. Polyphenols such as resveratrol have been linked to heart health. Anthocyanins, the pigments that provide the red color in grapes, may also have antioxidant properties. (Quick reminder: antioxidants may prevent or delay some types of cell damage.) Those antioxidants may help increase levels of HDL cholesterol. That’s the good cholesterol, for those of you following along at home. Resveratrol may help reduce LDL cholesterol. That’s the bad one. It may also not be any of the above, as the studies on humans have, or so it seems, been inconclusive.

It may also be related to diet in general; the Mediterranean diet, for example, features healthier foods, for example, olive oil, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, and…red wine.  

The wine with the highest levels of polyphenols, specifically resveratrol, is the Sardinian Cannonau wine from the Grenache grape. It is also high in anthocyanins. Malbec, Petite Sirah (Syrah), and Pinot Noir grapes have been found to have the next highest levels.

And as I have noted on several occasions, it is not necessary to start drinking red wine to get the benefits. Purple grape juice provides many of the same benefits, without the potential problems of adding alcohol to your diet. Eating grapes or blueberries? Those are also good options. 

So what’s the bottom line? Surprise! There isn’t one. There are multiple factors that can cause red wine headaches, and there are multiple types of red wine that can potentially have health benefits. Drink lots of water when you’re drinking any type of alcohol. Look for the specific grapes I mentioned above, and, if it helps, think about looking for wines sourced from organic or chemical-free grapes. Try small amounts of different types of wine, for example, wines that are fermented in oak barrels have different properties from wines fermented in steel barrels. It may make a difference for you, and it may not. Drink small amounts; a serving is 5 ounces. (If you put it in a small glass, it looks like more!)

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Food Rule 23

Michael Pollan’s FOOD RULE # 23 is as follows: Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food.

I find it interesting and amusing that I randomly turned to that item in the book today when looking for a topic that sparked my interest. I’d recently realized that we have had meat on our menu a lot in the past few weeks and I also realized that it went with winter and cold weather and an apparent biological need for more insulation. (Not that I don’t have plenty of that already - too much, in fact!)

The American Heart Association recommends limiting meat intake to 5.5 ounces per day. (Psst - by the way - that pork chop in the photo? That’s a 5 ounce chop. It was plenty!!)

A prediction at the beginning of 2018 was that Americans would average - AVERAGE - eating 222.2 pounds of meat per year.

Let’s do the math, shall we?

222.2 pounds is 3,555.2 ounces.

3,555.2 ounces in a year works out to 9.740274 ounces of meat. Per day. ON AVERAGE.

The AHA recommendation comes out to 125.46875 pounds of meat per person. That is over 96 pounds under the expected average consumption.

In 2018, we were predicted to eat almost ONE HUNDRED POUNDS more meat than is recommended for a healthy diet.

I feel the need for a spinach salad. Anyone else? Without bacon. And for me to say “without bacon” is something of a big deal.

Let’s be honest. Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy a steak. (Or bacon. Or chicken. Or chicken wrapped in bacon. You get the point.)

But whoa. I’m picturing 9.74 ounces of meat a day and that is a lot. That is too much. That is an overwhelming amount of meat. Yikes.

I found it intriguing that Pollan referenced Thomas Jefferson supposedly using meat as a “flavor principle,” so I went looking for more information. As referenced on the web site for Monticello, Jefferson could not be called a vegetarian as we think of vegetarians today, however, meat was not the primary focus of his meals.

Huh. That founding father guy was kinda smart.

Eat more veggies. There are many great and tasty ways to get protein in the diet that don’t include 9+ ounces of meat a day. But maybe, just maybe, sneak a small steak in every once in a while. (Unless, of course, you’re a vegan or vegetarian, in which case, maybe not so much. Why change what’s working?) I’ll definitely be revisiting my menus and trimming out some of the meat we’ve been eating!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Carrots!

A long time ago, but not in a galaxy far, far away, I had a copy of a newspaper comic strip that featured a bunny holding carrots up to its eyes and asking, “How do carrots help you see better?” :) HA! Thinking of that still makes me chuckle these many years later.

It sounds funny, but everyone knows (or probably everyone knows) that carrots do indeed help maintain healthy eyes. Carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in your liver. (Unless you’re a plant, you can’t manufacture beta-carotene yourself.) Carrots also contain small amounts of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin C, among other nutrients. What does that mean for you?

Eat. Your. Carrots.

I thought about the health benefits of carrots recently when I was munching on some baby carrots, as well as after putting a bunch of carrots and sweet potatoes in a crockpot for a balsamic beef pot roast type of recipe. (Very tasty!) It sounds funny, but I occasionally forget how much I like the taste of fresh, raw carrots. Unlike my recently-developed fascination with the Darlington variety of cucumber, I’m not thinking of any specific variety of carrot. Fresh out of the garden is best, although I’ll take what I can get when it’s winter and I’m stuck at the grocery store.

When I did some digging online, I found things I didn’t know about carrots! Carrots can help prevent tooth decay. The potassium in carrots helps maintain healthy sodium levels in the body. Carrots are high in fiber, which is good for you on many levels. The glycemic index for carrots is only 39, so if you’re concerned about consuming too many sugars, the impact that carrots will have on your blood sugar is actually lower than you might think.

I also didn’t realize that while it seems raw is better, cooking carrots actually does not reduce their benefits. So the carrots in my pot roast were still good for me! (I’m not so sure that the butter and brown sugar-glazed carrots I like to make are still all that healthy…but gosh they’re tasty that way!)

How do you like your carrots? Fresh? Cooked? Grated into spaghetti sauce? (I’m not kidding! Try it sometime; you might like it!)

Cheers! Here’s to your health!

p.s. I thought it'd be fun to mention the wine I'm enjoying when I write these, particularly if it's an Iowa wine or one from a winery I've visited. Tonight's wine of choice is from Madison County Winery here in Iowa and it's their gloriously tasty Petite Sirah. Cheers!

Wine & Wellness Wednesday: Heart Health

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s #winewellnesswednesday, so my glass of red wine & I would like to talk to you about heart health. (Of course! What an appropriate topic for Valentine’s Day!)

Let’s start with red wine and your heart, or Concord grape juice and your heart. You can get similar benefits from either, so there’s no need to start drinking alcohol if you aren’t a drinker! Red wine has antioxidants and resveratrol. The antioxidants may help protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart, and resveratrol may help prevent damage as well as break up LDL cholesterol, improving your overall cholesterol count. Again, you can get the same benefits from Concord grape juice. So have a glass of a good, dry red wine, or have a glass of Concord grape juice. They’re both good for you, in moderation!

A healthy diet is critical for your heart, and it can be a lot of fun as well! Lowering cholesterol, raising fiber, lowering sodium, and focusing on more fruits & veggies in your diet are all beneficial. And even better, there are dozens of ways to do all of those things without feeling as though you’re consumed every day by managing your meals. Add spinach to a salad, or to your breakfast eggs. Substitute sweet potato for potato. Substitute black bean pasta for regular spaghetti. Select a smaller steak and have broccoli with it instead of mashed potatoes. Have a nice piece of a quality dark chocolate for dessert. See? Fun!

Exercise, exercise, exercise. Even just 40 minutes of a brisk walk three times a week can be beneficial! If all you ever do is sit at a desk, get up from your desk regularly and walk around. Take the stairs if you can. Walk up and down the block around your neighborhood. Park further away from the grocery store. If you already exercise, add to it and add some variety! But GET MOVING! If you’ve never been into exercise, what are you waiting for? You don’t have to run a marathon, but you do need to move.

Get good sleep! If you don’t get enough sleep, you are at risk for diabetes, weight gain, and cardiovascular disease. Sleep for solid periods of time so your body can rest, heal, and prepare for the next day. This isn’t just a good idea; it’s a critical necessity to protect your heart and your overall health!

Heart health. Not just on Valentine’s Day, but every day. Take care of your heart, and take care of you!

Cheers! Here’s to your health!