Do you enjoy a glass of wine? Of course you do. Wine is refreshing and delicious, the perfect thing to send off a tough day at the office and to accompany your dinner. Plus, with all that reservatrol, it’s good for your heart too.
Studies keep popping up, all with conflicting advice. Drink wine, don’t drink wine. It can be impossible to keep track. And when trying to balance all that with a healthy lifestyle, trying to decipher the science can be dizzying.
But earlier this month, a promising new study was released by the European Society of Cardiology, called In Vino Veritas. The research, based in the Czech Republic, studied the relationship between wine and exercise and the results are exciting.
The study followed subjects for a full year, and asked them to drink moderately five days a week. (Not a bad study to be part of!) Subjects drank both red and white (Pinot Noir and a “Chardonnay-Pinot”), and yet the results were almost identical.
Over the course of the study, the researchers studied the impact of wine consumption on each subject’s health and found that on its own, the wine had little effect. But when they looked at those subjects who exercised at twice a week, the researchers found that they had significant improvements in their cholesterol levels.
Basically, a few glasses of wine plus at least two days of exercise a week equals better protection against cardiovascular disease. So if you’re ever wondering whether to pour yourself a glass, don’t hesitate. But hit the gym first to maximize its positive health effects… and then drink up!
