Red Wine Can Help You Lose Weight
Several studies confirm that drinking red wine before going to bed can help you lose weight. Although I wouldnt necessarily consider it a weight loss hack, Harvard University did conduct research for 13 years to confirm the effect of red wine on weight.
The research conducted on 20,000 women confirmed that women who drank up to two glasses of wine a day were less likely to be obese. As stated in the study,
Compared with nondrinkers, initially normal-weight women who consumed a light to moderate amount of alcohol gained less weight and had a lower risk of becoming overweight and/or obese during 12.9 years of follow-up.
Again, it is important to follow the rule of moderation. However, if you drink red wine moderately, it can help you lose weight!
Can’t Sleep Have A Glass Of Red Wine
It tastes rather pleasant, is good for our health and may help us live longer.
But, if that isn’t enough to convince you, scientists have come up with yet another excuse to enjoy a glass or two of red wine.
Research shows that drinking red wine may help us get to sleep more easily.
Grape skins – which are removed when making white wine – are bursting with melatonin, the hormone that keeps our body clocks in check and tells us when it is time to go to bed.
Wines particularly rich in the compound include Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chianti.
The researchers, from the University of Milan, said their findings could explain why so many of us reach for a bottle of red wine to help us wind down after a long day.
Melatonin, which is produced by in our brains by the pea-like pineal gland, is also good for our health.
The hormone, which is also linked to libido and aging is a powerful anti-oxidant, mopping up harmful molecules called free radicals which are linked to cancer.
The researchers measured the amount of melatonin in the skins of eight varieties of grape grown in an Italian vineyard.
The level varied greatly, with the most melatonin found in Nebbiolo grapes, which are used to make Barolo and Barbaresco wines.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes and Sangiovese – the main ingredient of Chianti – were also rich in the compound.
These grapes contained around 20 times less melatonin than the top-scoring Nebbiolo.
Why Does Wine Make Me Tired
A couple of glasses of wine at home or among friends is meant to be enjoyed, but sometimes it can have you dreaming of your warm bed. It seems one minute youre the life of the party, and the next youre snoring up a storm in a deep slumber.
So, if youre wondering why wine makes you tired and looking for ways to prevent that hazy feeling you get when you drink said beverage, youre in the right place!
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Why Do Some Wines Keep Me Awake At Night
Hello there! Im Dr. Vinifera, but you can call me Vinny. Ask me your toughest wine questions, from the fine points of etiquette to the science of winemaking. And dont worry, Im no wine snobyou can also ask me those dumb questions youre too embarrased to ask your wine geek friends! I hope you find my answers educational, empowering and even amusing. And dont forget to check out my most asked questions and my full archives for all my Q& A classics.
Dear Dr. Vinny,
Why do some wines keep me awake at night?
Leah, Asheville, N.C.
Dear Leah,
Alcohol can interfere with how you sleep, disrupting REM sleep and exacerbating sleep disorders. It should never be used as a sleep aid. Avoid drinking wine right before bed, and at least a few hours before that if possible. And of course talk to your physician before consuming wine while taking any medications.
Many people find wine, which also contains a small amount of melatonin, to have a sedative effect, but your experience of wine keeping you awake at night is not uncommon either. Wine can actually exacerbate sleep apnea and insomnia, and it can also have multiple side effects that may interrupt your ability to fall asleep, including ringing in the ears, flushing and dehydration.
Dr. Vinny
Drinking Red Wine Every Night Can Help You Sleep Better And Live Longer
We hear a lot of conflicting thoughts about drinking. On the one hand, alcohol consumption can put a strain on your liver function and is believed to contribute to certain forms of cancer. On the other hand, doctors say that alcohol in moderation helps you relax and relieve stress, which is crucial for a healthy mind and body.
But according to a new study by the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, a glass of wine at night can actually help in preventing such things as cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes, and even help you live longer.
Now, before you go nuts and start chugging Merlot like there aint no tomorrow, reread that last sentence very carefully. A glass of red wine helps those things. A, as in one glass with dinner. Not ten. So, yeah, while its pretty rad that red wine might now officially be considered good for you, it only applies when consumed in real moderation.
In the study, 224 people who werent current wine drinkers were told to drink five ounces a night of either mineral water, dry white wine, or dry red wine every night, while also following a calorie-restricted Mediterranean-style diet. They did this for two years, filling out questionnaires along the way and having blood drawn at both six months and two years in to get a look at glycemic control, lipids, and liver function.
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Youll Protect Your Brain
Similarly, the calming effect that we feel from drinking a glass of wine has great benefits for your brain. First and foremost, wine has the tendency to create a calming effect on the brain allowing us to de-stress after a day of hard work. However, scientists have found that wine could even have long-term benefits for our mental health when consumed in moderation. For example, red wine contains polyphenol antioxidants which assist in the reduction of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinsons and Alzheimers. So be nice to your brain, and treat yourself to a glass with dinner.
It May Reduce Inflammation
Resveratrol is yet another compound found in red wine that can be good for you. Many studies have shown that this supplement can stop or reduce the formation of inflammatory components that are commonly associated with chronic disease.
Remember, this benefit of red wine only occurs when its drunk moderation. Too much alcohol can actually have the opposite effect and lead to an increase in inflammation.
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Alcohol And Sleep: Help Or Hindrance
The worst of all âsleeping medicinesâ is alcohol in any shape.
Contemporary Review: Volume 34, Jan 1879
Alcohol is the most widely used sleep aid on the planet. Itâs probably been âhelpingâ us to sleep since we discovered how to make it at least 9,000 years ago.
And it does workâ¦to a degree.
Alcohol will undoubtedly help to send you off to sleep as it actually works on the same receptors in the brain that are targeted by some sleeping tablets.
However, the problem with alcohol comes later in the night when alcohol has a number of negative effects.
When Does Alcoholic Myopathy Occur
Approximately one-third of individuals who drink heavily on a regular basis will experience alcoholic myopathy, making it far more common than some people might think. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews indicates that about between 0.5 percent and 2 percent of individuals struggling with alcoholism experience acute alcoholic myopathy, while 200 individuals in 100,000 of the general population develop chronic alcoholic myopathy more than any type of inherited myopathy.
Acute alcoholic myopathy can occur after consuming more than 4-5 alcoholic beverages in one sitting . On the other hand, those who develop chronic myopathy generally do so slowly over the course of several weeks or even months of regular, heavy drinking, gradually losing muscle strength. In some cases, muscle twitching, pain, or atrophy will also occur with chronic alcoholic myopathy. Chronic myopathy can also result in occasional bouts of acute myopathy, with muscle pain and weakness and darkened urine occurring after the person binges on alcohol.
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Get A Good Amount Of Sleep The Night Before
If youre planning on drinking wine the next day, ideally, you want to get a good amount of sleep the night before. Thats because how much sleep you get is related to the intensity of the effects of alcohol.
Due to alcohol being a central nervous system depressant, it slows down certain parts of your brain and has a sedating effect. If youre already tired from a bad nights sleep the previous day, drinking wine will only enhance that sensation.
Additionally, sleep deprivation and drinking alcohol can make you feel tipsier than you actually are.
Scott Swartzwelder states thats due to alcohol strengthening the side effects that come with lack of sleep, making you less alert overall.
If you want to prevent falling into a sleepy stupor after a wine-drinking session, you might want to get yourself an early night the day before so you can squeeze in 8 hours of rest.
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Should I Drink Red Wine Before Bed
Looking for a good way to wind down before bed? You may have heard that having a glass of red wine at night can help you sleep better and be good for your health. But is this true?
Were here to help separate fact from fiction so you can understand if having red wine before bed is good for you .
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Alcohol May Impair Sleep Due To Snoring Or Apnea
Drinking too much wine before bedtime is bad for you, as alcohol increases sleep apnea and snoring. It prevents entry into deep sleep!
In fact, the number of nighttime awakenings due to snoring is highly related to the amount of alcohol consumption. But, even a single drink increases the risk of snoring or obstructive sleep apnea.
Actually, alcohol relaxes the upper airway muscles, increasing resistance during inhalation. It significantly restricts breathing.
Higher doses of alcohol lead to poorer sleep quality and higher odds of having snoring and short sleep duration.
Does Drinking Wine Make You Sleepy
First, its worth noting the connection between alcohol and sleep in the first place. One of the most significant side effects of drinking alcohol is somnolence the desire to sleep. This is why its so common for many people to consider drinking before bed if they cant drift off.
Unfortunately, alcohols sedative effects arent as great as you might think. Alcohols effect on the central nervous system is complicated. While it does make you feel sleepy at first, it can also harm the quality of your sleep, and make it more likely youll wake up during the night.
So, why does wine make you sleep?
When you have a drink, it takes around twenty minutes for the alcohol in the drink to absorb into your blood stream. From there, the small size of the alcohol molecules means they can easily pass through the brain-blood barrier. Here they start targeting GABA-A receptors, accelerating neural processes, which make you feel drowsy.
However, this is a fact relevant to all alcohol not just wine.
Studies into why wine in particular is so effective at making you feel sleepy are still ongoing. One report published in 2017 found many people feel different after drinking different kinds of alcohol.
This report found people drinking red wine were most likely to have the lowest energy levels and the highest feelings of fatigue. 60% of people said they felt tired after drinking wine.
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Why Does Wine Make Me Sleepy
Why does wine make me sleepy? If youve ever asked this question, youll know how easy it is to find yourself starting to snooze after a couple of glasses of red on a cozy night in.
So, today, were going to be looking at why wine makes you sleepy, and whether its more likely to have a sedative effect than any other drink.
As a depressant, any kind of alcohol can make you feel sleepy, but some people swear wine is more likely to affect them than other drinks.
Maybe its something about the soothing rich flavors or perhaps the fact many wines have a higher alcohol percentage than the average pint of beer.
Reasons Why You Should Not Use Alcohol To Treat Your Sleeping Disorder
If you are suffering from insomnia and reading this article please do not think about using alcohol to help you deal with this problem. The alcohol in the wine will be great at making you feel drowsy and thus cause you to fall asleep fast. The problem will come in when the alcohol messes with rapid eye movement sleep phase.
The human body depends on the REM part of your sleep cycle for restorative purposes. The alcohol will cause your brain to have disruptive patterns that prevent you from going through your restorative process.
The sleep induced by alcohol intake may be long but of very poor quality. This may make it very difficult for you to remain focused during the day. It may even affect your ability to multi-task when you wake up in the morning.
The most important thing when it comes to sleeping is getting quality sleep and not the duration of time you spend asleep.
It is advisable that you try other ways to treat your insomnia that are more natural and which have little or no side effects. These could include sleeping on a firm mattress and soft pillows, switching off all your electronic screens, going to bed at a particular time every night etc.
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So Wine Helps You To Fall Asleep Does It
If you struggle to reach the Land of Nod with ease each evening, you are definitely not alone. Research has shown that in the region of 70 million Americans have issues of some degree when it comes to sound slumber, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine state. And as history has taught us if you want to doze off, then alcohol is a pretty alluring and simplistic option, isnt it?
Experts have established that by drinking prior to bed brings about a reduction in sleep latency, and this means that sleep can be induced at a quicker rate than typically experienced.
Why? Well, its down to the sedative effects alcohol offers and this can vary in intensity levels depending on blood-alcohol content from person to person. Whats more though, numerous studies have highlighted the fact that its very possible to develop a tolerance to alcohols sedative effects and it can only take three nights to do so!
As such, your body will require bigger volumes of alcohol for you to get back those sleep-inducing effects, so, for people who have a moreish personality, this can be worrying, as it might lead on to alcohol dependency.
A number of wine grapes are potent as far as melatonin is concerned, a study has established . Of the eight grape varieties that featured in the testing, Nebbiolo top first place for the highest melatonin content, with 0.965 nanograms per gram of grape skin . The second was a local Italian grape Croatina followed by Barbera taking the third spot.
What Effect Has A Glass Of Wine On Your Sleep
I am a wine lover and really appreciate a glass of wine in the evening. And for a long time, I thought wine is also a perfect sleep aid. The slightly drowsy feeling a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon can give you seemed to be an ideal way to doze off.
Until I found out that the exact opposite is the case. The truth is, drinking wine, beer or liquor close to bedtime is much more likely to interfere with your sleep than to assist it. Even consumed only in moderate doses alcohol has the power to affect your entire night of sleep.
This doesnt mean that you have to abstain from alcohol completely. But if you use alcohol as a coping mechanism for having difficulties to fall asleep, its time to manage your alcohol consumption, so it doesnt disrupt your sleep.
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Red Wine & Resveratrol The Health Connection
If you are considering drinking red wine before bed, it is important that you understand resveratrol- the compound responsible for most of the health benefits of red wine.
Resveratrol is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound, commonly found in high amounts in red wine.
Resveratrol most notably comes from grapes, and it is mainly concentrated in their peel. Due to this, the highest concentrations of resveratrol are found in red wines, because red wines are produced from the fermentation of juice together with fruit skins.
Although drinking red wine has other health benefits that do not pertain to resveratrol, resveratrol is the most important compound of red wine because it is a very effective antioxidant and non-toxic fungicide .
In fact, resveratrol supplements have shown specific health benefits as well. For example, according to a study produced in Cell Metabolism,
30 days of resveratrol supplementation induces metabolic changes in obese humans, mimicking the effects of calorie restriction.
Furthermore, as stated by a study published in Nutrition Research,
oral supplementation of resveratrol is thus found to be effective in improving glycemic control and may possibly provide a potential adjuvant for the treatment and management of diabetes.
If you would like to obtain some of the health benefits of drinking red wine before bed without drinking red wine itself, supplementing with resveratrol is a great option.
Here is a great resveratrol supplement:
