A Cold Observation about Wine (with recipe)

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A Cold Observation about Wine (with recipe) JoAnn Guest Apr 14, 2005 11:41

PDT

Janet Raloff

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020518/food.asp

 

Show this story to your boss, and she might just offer you a glass or

two of wine. After all, downing this beverage—especially the red

varieties—appears to help ward off the common cold, according to a new

study.

 

Though colds usually aren’t dire, they remain one of the leading causes

of missed days at work. In the United States alone, some 30 million days

of sick leave trace to workers suffering from these viral infections—and

the sneezing, stuffy heads, runny noses, hacking coughs, sore throats,

and malaise that typically accompany them.

 

The new study was conducted in Spain, where for 1 year researchers

followed the respiratory condition of almost 4,300 faculty and staff at

several universities. The scientists started by surveying the

participants’ health, their average weekly consumption of alcoholic

beverages, and a host of other factors that might influence

susceptibility to colds—such as stress, vitamin intake, smoking, and

frequent proximity to small children.

 

Those who initially had a cold or suffered from asthma or some other

chronic respiratory disease were culled from the study. The remaining

recruits received follow-up surveys by mail every 10 weeks asking about

any cold symptoms that persisted 3 or more days. In the May 1 American

Journal of Epidemiology, Bahi Takkouche of the University of Santiago de

Compostela, Spain, and his colleagues report that some 1,350 of the

participants eventually developed at least one cold.

 

Overall, his group found no correlation between the incidence of these

infections and the consumption of either beer or spirits. Nor did

vitamin C or zinc consumption appear to affect cold susceptibility.

Wine, however, came up as clearly protective.

 

Compared to teetotalers, men and women who downed an average of more

than 2 glasses of wine daily had a 40 percent reduction in their risk of

developing a cold. Among those who downed red wine exclusively, it took

just 8 to 14 glasses a week to achieve this apparent benefit. But if

these red aficionados quaffed more, their risk of developing a cold

dropped to 60 percent below that of people who avoided alcohol, who

drank beer, or who chose distilled spirits.

 

Why wine?

 

The apparent benefit of wine consumption remained even after accounting

for the individuals’ intake of other alcoholic beverages, whether they

smoked, and other known risk factors for colds.

 

The findings were unexpected, observes Miguel A. Hernán of the Harvard

School of Public Health in Boston, a coauthor of the study. Because

alcohol tends to suppress immunity, he notes, " our hypothesis was that

alcohol drinking would make people more likely to become infected with

the common cold. " Instead, the researchers identified no such risk.

 

Because the benefit is linked just to wine, the team came to the

conclusion " that it is not the alcohol in the red wine, but some other

component, that is protective. So, we started to look at other compounds

that are mainly in wine—especially red wines, " Hernán told Science News

Online.

 

Numerous studies of other illnesses have turned up evidence that wine

may confer—when taken in moderation—long-term benefits, especially in

diabetics (SN: 7/24/99, p. 52) and people at risk of heart disease (Red

wine: Why it's heart-ier than white:

http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/8_22_98/food.htm).

 

Resveratrol is one chemical prevalent in wines and grape juice that may

enhance health. Research has demonstrated that it fights processes that

foster heart disease—and cancer, at least in animals. In their new

report, the scientists cite work by others indicating that this plant

compound has strong anti-inflammatory properties. How or why it might

help the body fight an infection, however, remains a mystery.

 

Moreover, in a review of wine’s benefits in heart disease, chemist

Andrew L. Waterhouse of the University of California, Davis Department

of Viticulture and Enology argues that even if people consume a

half-liter of wine, " the likelihood that resveratrol from wine would

have a physiological effect on a wine-drinking population appears to be

low. "

 

Flavonoids are more likely to exhibit some notable effect, Waterhouse

says. Members of this family of chemicals occur in most wines in higher

quantities than resveratrol and have a host of beneficial attributes—at

least in test-tube and rodent studies. Indeed, Takkouche’s team points

to experiments indicating that some flavonoids fight viruses by

interfering with their DNA synthesis.

 

Refining the take-home message

 

The new study falls far short of proving that wine wards off infections.

But if future research confirms wine’s protection against colds, a

prophylactic evening glass or two of merlot might prove a special boon

to the workforce’s busiest bees.

 

Earlier this year, Takkouche’s group reported that the people who rated

their lives the most stressful succumbed to twice as many colds as did

those claiming not to be stressed. People who felt especially upbeat, on

the other hand, appeared less vulnerable than average. Indeed, this

positive mental attitude appeared equally protective against colds as

drinking two glasses of wine daily.

 

However, Takkouche, who describes himself as " almost a teetotaler, "

emphasizes that his group’s new findings should not be read as a license

to overindulge. In fact, he acknowledges, in the beginning, " we were a

little embarrassed about our results. "

 

Even if wine proves good for the common cold, intemperate use can fuel

physical violence and traffic accidents. What’s more, he adds,

" alcoholism among youngsters has become a real problem. "

 

While his group concluded that it would be " unethical " not to publish

their data, " we have also been very concerned about how people will

interpret the findings, " Takkouche observes.

 

 

 

--

 

 

Núria’s Catalan Sangria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In honor of these studies and Spain, where they were conducted, we

provide a recipe for a summery beverage that may offer a nutritional

double whammy. It includes wine and fruits rich in vitamins and

minerals. It was prepared many times for me by Núria Pérez Traver, the

daughter of a chef in Barcelona, during that happy year she came to the

United States to share her culture with my young family.

 

2 liters of red wine (any house red will do)

1 12-oz. can of frozen lemonade

8 oz. of pineapple chunks

2 peaches or nectarine cut into chunks

2 pears cut into chunks

2 bananas cut into chunks

2 large oranges, cut into thin slices

juice squeezed from two more oranges

1 lemon cut into thin slices

cinnamon to taste

optional garnish: lemon peel

 

Mix the ingredients together in a large jar or pitcher and let the

flavors meld at least 3 hours at room temperature or overnight in the

fridge. Serve with a spoon for all those fruity chunks.

 

" Sangria needs to be served very cold, " Núria emphasizes. And for " a

touch of glamour, " she says, " put a long thin curl of a lemon’s peel

into the glass, leaving a little hanging over the top. "

 

 

 

References:

 

Takkouche, B., . . . and M.A. Hernán. 2002. Intake of wine, beer, and

spirits and the risk of clinical common cold. American Journal of

Epidemiology 155(May 1):853-858. Abstract available at

http://aje.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/155/9/853.

 

Takkouche, B., et al. 2002. Intake of vitamin C and zinc and risk of

common cold: A cohort study. Epidemiology 13(January):38-44. Abstract

available at

http://ipsapp003.lwwonline.com/content/getfile/64/55/7/abstract.htm.

 

Takkouche, B., et al. 2001. A cohort study of stress and the common

cold. Epidemiology 12(May):345-349. Abstract available at

http://ipsapp006.lwwonline.com/content/getfile/64/51/15/abstract.htm.

 

Waterhouse, A.L. 1995. Wine and heart disease. Chemistry & Industry (May

1):338-341. Available at

http://wineserver.ucdavis.edu/cuttingedge/research/winehealth.htm.

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html