Wine does a body good

Most of us think that wine consumption is limited to socializing and leisure.

But this belief has changed, as now most health practitioners advise that wine can do much more.

In the last section of her book Aromatherapy for Your Diet, Daniele Ryman wrote about how her parents introduced wine to their family not only to accompany a good family meal, but also to use it for its therapeutic benefits.

To start with, wine drunk during a meal helps the digestion. It also helps you relax after a hard day and boosts the vitamin and mineral content in your diet.

Here are some tips and hints when to drink wine according to your health situation:

People with anemia or who are vegetarians or even simply too pale: Drink a glass of red burgundy for its minerals, especially iron. For weight problem or edema: Dry white wine from Alsace (a Sylvaner particularly) will act as a diuretic. Fatigue: Drink some champagne, old burgundy or Muscat. Nervous depression or just feeling low: Red Bordeaux, Medoc, or Cotede Roussillon help. Menopausal: Red burgundies or St. Emilion. Period pains and PMS: Banyuls or Monbazillac gives soothing and calming effect. To keep the circulatory system, especially the heart, in good order, many French doctors or phytotherapists recommend a modest amount of red wine. An aphrodisiac effect or just a bit of stimulation: Drink champagne, Chablis or White Bordeaux.

Admit it, drinking wine is a very much more pleasurable (and healthy) way of taking your "medicine".

But please note that wine should not be drunk in large quantities -- no more than two glasses per meal for adults.

Drinking wine as an aperitif is not right, either. Without food, wine can be harmful, especially when consumed in excess.

However, good wine drunk with good food should have nothing but beneficial effects. Give it a try!

-- Rina Poerwadi APDHA, Certified Holistic Aromatherapy