Hey guys.
Dr. Axe here, doctor of functional medicine and founder of DrAxe.com.
In this video I'm going to answer the question, "Is red wine good for you?"
Also answering the question, is red wine fattening and talk about the health benefits of drinking
red wine.
You can see here I've got a bottle of red wine from Italy here.
My wife and I a few years ago took a great trip to Tuscany.
I want to talk about again, is red wine healthy?
And the answer is yes and no.
First, let me talk about why it is healthy.
First off, we know that red wine or grapes themselves around the skin of the grape is
packed with an antioxidant called resveratrol.
Resveratrol has been shown to improve eyesight.
It's been shown to be a powerful antioxidant that fights cancer.
It's also been shown to be protective for the brain as well as for the heart.
So it's great for anti-aging.
It's great for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.
It's a key element of what's known as the Mediterranean Diet.
So red wine can be very beneficial.
Number one because of the antioxidant, resveratrol.
There are so many benefits we know of resveratrol, which is one of the world's most powerful
antioxidants.
Also, red wine, to answer the question, is red wine fattening?
The answer is typically no if it's consumed in small amounts.
It contains another phytonutrient called piceatannol.
This antioxidant specifically has been shown to help your body burn brown body fat.
So actually red wine, sipping very small amounts can actually help your body burn body fat
because of its unique phytonutrient compound, its unique antioxidants.
So again, red wine . . . and by the way there are many medical studies proving, in fact
when I did research online, I found over 20 showing that red wine in long term, double
blind study benefits can have great benefits for the heart, for the brain, for weight loss,
for anti-aging.
We're talking about some great benefits here when we're talking about red wine.
Now here's the warning I want to give.
When we see benefits of red wine, typically it's a glass a couple days a week and it's
not drinking in excess.
This is really where wine becomes damaging because one of the other counterparts you
have in wine is not just the great antioxidants, but it also is carbohydrates as well as alcohol.
If you're over consuming alcohol that really starts to burden the liver.
Now jumping back to benefits here.
A very small amount of alcohol in your diet, which is probably the equivalent of maybe
a half a glass of red wine, doing that small amount or even less than that actually stimulates
your liver.
In Chinese medicine it's known to increase liver chi or help with liver stagnation.
So if somebody struggles with constipation or if somebody has low energy, just a small
amount of red wine, again, half a glass or less can benefit detoxification of your liver
breaking down bile.
But if you're doing more than probably half a glass and without a doubt if you're doing
more than one glass of red wine it becomes very toxic to the liver.
So really that actually slows down liver detoxification or actually overburdens the liver and causes
accumulation of toxins in your body which will also increase fat storage.
That can increase your cholesterol levels long term because your liver is not only responsible
for detoxification, it's also responsible for producing cholesterol and creating bile
which breaks down fats.
So here's the answer.
Is red wine healthy and is red wine fattening?
If you're doing a small amount, a half a glass a couple days a week or the equivalent of
two glasses total a week, yes red wine can help you burn fat and lose weight.
Red wine has tremendous health benefits for the heart and the brain.
But if you're over consuming red wine, even let's say two glasses at one sitting, that
is over burdening the liver causing toxicity.
You will cause weight gain, heart issues and liver toxicity.
So again, it really is all about how you're drinking your vino.
If you're doing it in a responsible manner, again having just a little bit, a half a glass
with a meal a couple days a week, it is fantastic for your health.
But if you're overdrinking, and this goes for any alcohol especially if we're talking
about two glasses or more, that really starts to build up toxicity on the body which really
is going to not only negate the benefits but is also going to cause long term health issues.
I hope this has helped answer the question for you, "Is red wine healthy?"
And I hope you have learned some of the health benefits of red wine.
By the way, if you want to learn more about the benefits of red wine, go to my website
DrAxe.com.
I've got a lot of other super foods on there.
By the way, I've got some great videos coming up soon on the many health benefits of super
herbs and other healing foods you don't want to miss.
And if you want to check those out make sure you subscribe here to the YouTube channel.
This has been myself, Dr. Axe, talking about the many benefits of red wine and answering
your question, "Is red wine healthy?"