The Health Benefits of Mulled Wine

We’re getting closer to Christmas, so you might want to whip up some mulled wine in the next few weeks. If you’re looking for a red vintage you can use to make a fabulous mulled concoction, you can always buy the Vega Sicilla 1999 from the Ideal Wine Company!

If you purchase this bottle, you’ll be able to create a deliciously spiced mulled wine that explodes with flavour the minute it hits your taste buds. Not only does mulled wine taste amazing, but a recent article from the Evening Standard has revealed it can be pretty healthy too. Here are five health benefits of mulled wine:

Anti-inflammatory properties

A lot of people like to add a stick of cinnamon to mulled wine to provide it with that “Christmas in a glass” flavour it’s so famous for. This spice contains anti-oxidants which boast potent anti-inflammatory qualities. This means that mulled wine can reduce swelling, as well as restore normal tissue function.

Detoxify your body

Nutmeg is another popular ingredient for mulled wine. This spice has a number of properties which boost the overall physical health. Specifically, nutmeg detoxifies your liver and kidneys. This allows mulled wine to help your body recover from toxins that are commonly found in alcohol, drugs, pollution and food.

Heart disease prevention

A range of studies conducted in the year 2000 confirmed what many people have long suspected – drinking red wine (moderately) can lower the risk of heart disease and heart attacks. Our favourite tipple contains anti-oxidants which raise the level of good cholesterol in your body; this can significantly reduce the risk of clogged arteries and ultimately, heart disease.

Keeping bones strong

Moderate red wine intake has been shown to increase bone mineral density, therefore mulled wine can help lower the risk of osteoporosis.  Recent research indicated that women who drank one to three glasses of alcohol per day had greater bone mineral density, measured in the hip region of their thighbones, than heavy drinkers and non-drinkers.

Slowing signs of aging

Red wine contains a high concentration of antioxidants called polyphenols, including resveratrol. These anti-oxidants have been shown to help combat the damaging free radicals that play a role in aging and age-related diseases – so drinking mulled wine can make you look younger!

Reasons to drink mulled wine

As if you needed another reason to indulge in a glass or two of deliciously spiced mulled wine this Christmas! The red wine and spices that are key ingredients of mulled wine not only taste fantastic, they can also improve your overall physical health as well!

The Benefits to Drinking a Glass of Red Wine a Day

The Ideal Wine Company team recently learned that new research has indicated that drinking a glass of red wine a day could be good for people with type 2 diabetes.

Health benefits

If you’re a regular reader of the Ideal Wine Company blog, you’ll know that various studies have shown that there are a number of health benefits to red wine. The anti-oxidants in your favourite tipple can be better for you than an hour in the gym, as well as help ward off age-related memory decline. New research has shown that red wine might also be good for people with type 2 diabetes as well.

The study

The Independent reported that it was research recently published in the ‘Annals of Internal Medicine’ journal that suggested this ground breaking finding. The study involved 224 participants with type 2 diabetes (which is linked to obesity), and who often abstain from alcohol. The subjects were randomly asked to drink 150 millilitres of water, white wine or red wine with their evening meal for two years.

Participants who had a glass of red wine with their evening meals had healthier blood fat profiles. In other words they had more “good” cholesterol than participants who drank mineral water or white wine. They boasted better cholesterol levels and healthier hearts, something researchers linked to the phenol antioxidants found in the dark grapes used to create red wine.

Found to be superior

Iris Shai, the professor from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev who served as the lead scientist on the study, commented on its results. Shai said: "Red wine was found to be superior in improving overall metabolic profiles.

"Initiating moderate wine intake, especially red wine, among well-controlled diabetics, as part of a healthy diet, is apparently safe, and modestly decreases cardio-metabolic risk. The differential genetic effects that were found may assist in identifying diabetic patients in whom moderate wine consumption may induce greater clinical benefit."

Try our red wine

This just goes to show that you can reap a number of health benefits when you drink a glass of red wine a day. Here at the Ideal Wine Company we feature a number of fabulous red vintages on our product list. You might want to buy the Antinori Tignanello Toscana IGT 1990, a delightful vintage from Italy that’ll provide you with a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Could Red Wine Help Prevent Bowel Cancer?

Hold on to your hats people, the Ideal Wine Company has discovered yet another study about the health benefits of resveratrol. This time researchers are claiming that the wonder anti-oxidant can help prevent bowel cancer.

The wonder anti-oxidant

Resveratrol is an anti-oxidant that’s found on the skin of grapes, supposed to have more health benefits than a trip to the hot springs of Reykjavik.

In other words you can find resveratrol in red wine, and this is why red wine is supposed to have so many health benefits. According to various studies, resveratrol-laced red wine may be able to help you live longer as well as act as a memory aid, and be as good for your health as an hour in the gym.

Resveratrol and bowel cancer

A new study conducted by researchers at Leicester University has now shown that resveratrol can act as a safeguard against bowel cancer. Interestingly, the Daily Mail reported that this research found that the tiny amount of resveratrol in one glass of wine can be more effective than resveratrol supplements, which tend to contain much higher doses of the anti-oxidant.

The publication wrote that the University’s Karen Brown came to this conclusion by dosing mice that were genetically designed to develop the condition, with resveratrol. Brown discovered that low dosages of the anti-oxidant were twice as effective at preventing bowel cancer-related tumours, than dosages that were 200 times more powerful.

Effect of low doses

Professor Brown wrote in the journal ‘Science Translational Medicine,’ that she was “amazed” by the finding. However, she went on to add that resveratrol only had an anti-cancer effect on mice that were fed fatty foods.

She went on to say: “For the first time, we’re seeing that less resveratrol is more. This study shows low amounts may be better at preventing tumours than taking a high dose. The same might be true for other plant-derived chemicals and vitamins being studied for cancer prevention. There should be more research looking at the effects of low doses.”

Meaning for wine enthusiasts

This doesn’t by any means indicate that you can consume a full bottle of red wine to shield yourself from the risk of developing bowel cancer. However, it does indicate that if you purchase a Chateau Lafleur 1990 from the Ideal Wine Company and drink it modestly, you might be doing yourself the world of good!

Can Red Wine Help With Depression?

The Ideal Wine Company have heard it all now. A new study has found that red wine may be able to ease the symptoms of depression. It all has something to do with the wonder compound otherwise known as resveratrol.

The wonders of resveratrol

We’ve all heard the old wives tale. Drink two glasses of red wine a day and you’ll live to a ripe old age. However every day there seems to be a new study, a new piece of research, which shows us that it’s more than just an old wives tale.

Red wine is supposed to be good for you because it contains a compound called resveratrol. Let’s list the wonders of resveratrol. Scientists from the University of California found that resveratrol could be a cure for acne. Researchers from Canada discovered that the wonder compound could be better for you than an hour at the gym, improving muscle strength and heart function. A study in Texas suggested that it may be able to help you ward off age-related memory decline, making it a potential treatment option for conditions such as Alzheimer’s.

Resveratrol can prevent inflammation in the brain

Now scientists at the South Carolina School of Medicine have published a report which indicates that resveratrol could ease the symptoms of depression.

You need a bit of a history lesson to understand why. Earlier this year researchers stumbled on a game changing revelation. They found biological evidence which links depression to inflammation in the brain. The team at South Carolina School of Medicine conducted research which illustrated that resveratrol can ward off inflammation in the brain and thus, ease the symptoms of depression.

What happens when you give rats resveratrol?

They conducted two experiments with rats to prove their point. In both exercises they persuaded one rat to “bully” the others. The first time around some of the bullied rats developed depression-like symptoms along with brain inflammation, whilst others showed no sign of either.

They changed one thing the second time around. They dosed the bullied rats with a daily helping of resveratrol. The research’s lead author, Susan K. Wood, Ph.D. from the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience at University of South Carolina School of Medicine explained to Yahoo Health what happened:

“We measured neuroinflammation and tested for anhedonic behaviours (a prevalent symptom of major depressive disorder) at one time point — five days after the final stress exposure, which was also five days after the last treatment of resveratrol,” she explained. Wood elaborated that “it was at this point that resveratrol-treated rats had no evidence of anhedonia or inflammation compared with rats treated with a vehicle, meaning a placebo.” 

Drink up

Don’t treat this as gospel truth. Mental health is a serious issue and if you have a mental health problem such as depression, drinking copious amounts of red wine won’t do you any good. However this study shows that a glass or two of Armand Rousseau Clos de la Roche 1983 from the Ideal Wine Company could be good for your mental health!