Monday, September 28, 2009

In Vino Veritas

Photo Credit: Jawcey

“in vino veritas” (in wine, truth)

-Latin proverb

The Ancient Greeks and Romans drank wine with every meal. This doesn’t mean that they were drunk all the time–actually, they frowned upon drunkenness, which is where the myths of those fiendish satyrs come in. The ancients watered-down their wine considerably; it was the satyrs, they said, who drank unwatered wine. If they drank wine at every meal, they must have known that it was healthy and good, yes?

Most people have heard of the benefits of wine as far as heart health, and some doctors even recommend drinking a glass of red wine every night. Recent studies have shown that one of the components of wine which gives it healthful qualities is resveratrol. Studies on animals show that resveratrol can lengthen life expectancy and prevent cancer. Though at this point studies on humans are apparently inconclusive, there are definitely people out there who claim that it has great benefits.

I’ve been taking resveratrol capsules for quite awhile now, whenever I can afford them. Perhaps it is just a placebo-effect, but I feel that they increase my stamina. I need less sleep when I take them. One effect which is definitely noticeable after only a week of taking them is that my skin quite literally glows. When I take resveratrol my friends always remark (with great surprise!) that my skin is glowing and looks so youthful. So based on that alone, I would recommend it!

Of course, you could just drink wine (yum!), but resveratrol capsules are highly concentrated and so in theory they produce a stronger effect than a glass–or even a bottle–of wine would every night.

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