FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved

Booze by Geoff Last It’s true, and I am not simply referring to the select group of winos I hang around with. Wine consumption in North America has reached an all-time high. We are still a long way from rivaling our European counterparts, but we are, apparently, trying. Fueled by the 60 Minutes report (titled the "French Paradox") that red wine, consumed in moderation, is beneficial to one’s health, wine sales are on the rise. The so-called paradox refers to the fact that while the French eat some of the richest foods in existence, often laced with copious amounts of butter and cream, they enjoy one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world, and their percentage of people with weight problems is far less than that of North Americans as well. Since that story aired back in 1991, there has been a barrage of medical evidence to suggest that moderate alcohol consumption in general is, in fact, good for you. Oh, sure, every now and then some fresh-faced medical upstart tries to rain on the parade by announcing that Sniffy the lab rat has developed a nasty growth after being force-fed a quart of whiskey a day for six months, but that doesn’t seem like moderation to me, even by a lab rat’s standards. Here, then, are some of the results based on recent studies regarding alcohol consumption: • The Globe and Mail recently published (in part) a diet developed by (who else?) a Frenchman that advocates the consumption of red wine and chocolate, which means that I should start wasting away any day now. The diet was developed 14 years ago by Michel Montignac, and since its inception he has sold over 15 million diet books globally, with his latest book, Eat Yourself Thin, poised for release in North America. The diet focuses on the combination of foods eaten together, rather than quantities and calorie counting. • Julia Child recently announced that her secret to longevity is beef and gin. Who are we to argue with one of the few truly great American icons? • The New Science magazine recently published a study conducted by Dr. Alberto Bertelli of the University of Milan that shows that resveratrol, a by-product of grapes and wine, can actually stimulate and regenerate brain cells, and is being viewed as an important discovery in the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. It also means that I will soon require extra space to house my giant, expanding brain. • A study that concluded in 1967 (by the American Cancer Society) showed that a couple of drinks a day lowered the average mortality rate by 20 per cent. A similar French study, conducted on 34,000 men over a 10- to15-year period based on two to five glasses of wine a day, resulted in a 24- to 31-per-cent reduction of the mortality rate as opposed to those who abstained. Just finding that many people who abstain in France must have been a huge challenge in itself. • Need more proof? How about recent studies involving red wine that include such things as an increase in HDL cholesterol (the good kind of cholesterol) while lowering Lp lipoproteins and LDL cholesterol (the bad kind). Both of these things are directly related to the reduction of heart disease. • There is also evidence that – based on a study by the National Health Nutrition and Examination Survey – people who consume moderate amounts of wine are less likely to develop mascular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older adults. • Harvard Medical School recently published a study that indicates people who imbibe regularly are 59 per cent less likely to get kidney stones, particularly women. As anyone who has ever passed one of these little nuggets can tell you, this alone is reason enough to have a couple of drinks a day. All of this seems like good news to those of us who enjoy and respect the consumption of wine and other spirits, but to a certain degree it also seems like something that the Europeans and other cultures have innately understood for centuries. Wine was created to enhance the enjoyment of food, a gift from nature that stimulates the palate and warms the soul. The one word that is consistent in all of the studies listed is "moderation." In Europe, children are taught to enjoy and respect alcohol at a young age, and, in most cases, continue those habits throughout their adult lives. In addition to the increase in wine sales in North America, there is also a movement under way to drink less but better. This tells me that we are maturing as a culture, and can be filed away as one of the positives – however small – to carry with us as we enter a new century. Cheers!

| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |