Everyone knows that after a long day at work, there’s nothing to make you feel better than a glass of wine (or two), but waking up the next morning with a pounding headache and only able to find one shoe, doesn’t exactly make us feel like we’re bossing life.
So every now and then it is important to review the facts, and see if there is any way in which science can help us justify our vino habit, with potentially positive side effects or health benefits.
And luckily we have done just that, with these eight reasons that we should all go and have another glass of the good stuff.
1. It makes you more attractive.
We all know that beer goggles have a reputation for making us fall for people, who, maybe in the cold light of day, aren’t necessarily our cup of tea. But now science has confirmed that having one glass of wine does actually make us more attractive to other people. While this is good news for those pub dates, you might want to put a cork in it after the first glass, as having two servings or more sends you back down the attractiveness scale.
2. It helps you to lose weight.
In another episode of that-doesn’t-sound-quite-right, a study has revealed research that goes against every piece of diet advice we’ve ever been given. They found that while beer may give you a beer belly, wine can actually help you lose weight, as it contains the antioxidant, resveratrol. Pass us another bottle?
3. It is better for your brain than doing maths.
If you ever felt like doing mental arithmetic was a complete waste of your time (sorry maths teacher but, calculators), then you might have been right, as new research claims that drinking wine is actually a better cerebral workout than doing sums. Pub anyone?
4. It could reduce your risk of heart failure.
Drinking alcohol is not normally considered synonymous with looking after your body, but because scientists are the heroes we all need, they have found that enjoying a tipple from time to time actually could be reducing your risk of heart problems, including heart attacks, angina or heart failure.
5. It boosts your ‘good cholesterol’.
The morning after the night before, we never feel like wine has caused anything good to go on inside of our bodies, but it turns out that drinking in moderation can actually boost levels of “good cholesterol” in your system that is beneficial for your heart health.
6. It can help reduce breast cancer risk.
We’ve already discussed how our best friend resveratrol is helping us all to look like the best version of ourselves, but it seems it good actually be doing more important work inside our bodies too. This is as research suggests it can stop breast cancer cells growing and may combat resistant forms of the disease.
7. It boosts your self esteem.
We only need to look at our iPhone camera roll after a night out to see that alcohol makes us all believe we are the next Gisele. But science says it isn’t just being drunk that is giving us misplaced confidence, in fact wine actually boosts self esteem in a real way. Having a glass of wine with dinner has been shown to lead to better mental and physical health, by increasing self-esteem long term.
8. It is the secret to a long life.
If you don’t want to take science on it’s word, why not listen to the advice of 100-year-old grandfather who credits vino with helping him live a long life. Charlie Matthews, who fought in the Second World War, claims that “plenty” of Merlot has kept him fighting fight for the last century. Can he be our new wine-drinking pal?
Please drink responsibly. For more information on drinking, please visit Drink Aware. Drink Aware is an independent charity working to reduce alcohol misuse and harm in the UK.