Ravings of the Loquacious Madman

By Debra Gordon
From Health magazine

The list of wine’s benefits is long—and getting more surprising all the time. Already well-known as heart healthy, wine in moderation might help you lose weight, reduce forgetfulness, boost your immunity, and help prevent bone loss.

With America likely to edge out France and Italy in total wine consumption in the near future, according to one analyst, and with women buying more than 6 out of every 10 bottles sold in this country, we’re happy to report that wine may do all of the following:

1. Feed your head
Wine could preserve your memory. When researchers gave memory quizzes to women in their 70s, those who drank one drink or more every day scored much better than those who drank less or not at all. Wine helps prevent clots and reduce blood vessel inflammation, both of which have been linked to cognitive decline and heart disease, explains Tedd Goldfinger, DO, of the University of Arizona School of Medicine. Alcohol also seems to raise HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, which helps unclog your arteries.

2. Keep the scale in your corner
Studies find that people who drink wine daily have lower body mass than those who indulge occasionally; moderate wine drinkers have narrower waists and less abdominal fat than people who drink liquor. Alcohol may encourage your body to burn extra calories for as long as 90 minutes after you down a glass. Beer seems to have a similar effect.

3. Boost your body’s defenses
In one British study, those who drank roughly a glass of wine a day reduced by 11% their risk of infection by Helicobacter pylori bacteria, a major cause of gastritis, ulcers, and stomach cancers. As little as half a glass may also guard against food poisoning caused by germs like salmonella when people are exposed to contaminated food, according to a Spanish study.

4. Guard against ovarian woes
When Australian researchers recently compared women with ovarian cancer to cancer-free women, they found that roughly one glass of wine a day seemed to reduce the risk of the disease by as much as 50 percent. Earlier research at the University of Hawaii produced similar findings. Experts suspect this may be due to antioxidants or phytoestrogens, which have high anticancer properties and are prevalent in wine. And in a recent University of Michigan study, a red wine compound helped kill ovarian cancer cells in a test tube.

5. Build better bones
On average, women who drink moderately seem to have higher bone mass than abstainers. Alcohol appears to boost estrogen levels; the hormone seems to slow the body’s destruction of old bone more than it slows the production of new bone.

6. Prevent blood-sugar trouble
Premenopausal women who drink one or two glasses of wine a day are 40 percent less likely than women who don’t drink to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a 10-year study by Harvard Medical School. While the reasons aren’t clear, wine seems to reduce insulin resistance in diabetic patients.

  Affligem Noel Christmas Ale, 9% ABV * Make sure all those lights are hung before you go tapping this one. Hops, starch, sugar and spices make this premium seasonal worth the wait. It’ll keep you warmer than the fire.

  Anno 1417 Kellerbier, 5.5% ABV * From the brewers at Hacker-Pschorr, one of the oldest breweries in Munich (dating back to 1417), this matte golden ale is the classic unfiltered style: naturally cloudy with a malty nose.

Full Moon Winter Ale, 5.6% ABV * From the popular kids at Blue Moon, their winter ale seasonal. Not as potent as some of the other beers on this list, but approachably malty, just like their other styles.

  St. Nikolaus Bock, 8% ABV * Leave this out for the old guy and see what presents you get under the tree. And this malty, dark bock goes well with those chocolate chip cookies Santa will be expecting anyway.

Clipper City Winter Storm, 7.5% ABV * Know someone who likes to feast on the meat and cheese portion of the hors d’oeuvre hour? This is their beer: goes perfect with sharp cheddar and spicy, smoked meats.

  Newcastle Brown Ale, 4.7% ABV * From England, not Delaware, this one makes the list because, well, it’s my list. And this has always been one of my faves, with its malty and roasty flavor and iconic yellow cap and blue star.

  Guinness Stout, 4.3% ABV * Speaking of icons, the Guinness is one of the best-selling ales in the world, and for good reason. It’s the lightest on our list, despite its color.

Holy Sheet Uber Abbey Ale, 9% ABV * Also from the fine folks at Clipper City in Baltimore, this full-bodied burgundy beer has the ability to knock one on their keister. Steady now.

  Lord Chesterfield Ale, 4% ABV * Yuengling’s lighter, zestier ale, golden in color and less hoppy than the traditional lager. This is for the light beer drinker who’s looking for a change.

  Smithwick’s Irish Ale, 4.5% ABV * "Smitticks" is the only beer on the list with more of a bitter finish, but tasty nonetheless.

  Molson Export Ale, 4.9% * Canadian moonshine at its finest. You’ll think you’re drinking a light beer, but the 4.9 will get ya. It’s like a Christmas miracle!

  Paulaner Salvatore, 7.9% * A fine double bock with a 360-year-old recipe that will make you feel like new after one or two.

  Rob Kalesse Metromix

–Peter Aldhous

The next time you hear someone blaming "beer goggles" for their behaviour, you may have to believe them. People really do appear more attractive when our perceptions are changed by drinking alcohol.

There have been few previous attempts to investigate the idea that people seem to find others more attractive when drunk. In 2003, psychologists at the University of Glasgow, UK, published a study in which they asked heterosexual students in campus bars and cafés whether they had been drinking, and then got them to rate photos of people for attractiveness. While the results supported the beer goggles theory, another explanation is that regular drinkers tend to have personality traits that mean they find people more attractive, whether or not they are under the influence of alcohol at the time.

To resolve the issue, a team of researchers led by Marcus Munafò at the University of Bristol in the UK conducted a controlled experiment. They randomly assigned 84 heterosexal students to consume either a non-alcoholic lime-flavoured drink or an alcoholic beverage with a similar flavour. The exact amount of alcohol varied according to the individual but was designed to have an effect equivalent to someone weighing 70 kilograms drinking 250 millitres of wine – enough to make some students tipsy. After 15 minutes, the students were shown pictures of people their own age, from both sexes.

Both men and women who had consumed alcohol rated the faces as being more attractive than did the controls (Alcohol and Alcoholism, DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agn065). Surprisingly, the effect was not limited to the opposite sex – volunteers who had drunk alcohol also rated people from their own sex as more attractive.

This contrasts with the Glaswegian team’s results, where there was only an effect when men were looking at pictures of women, and vice versa. One explanation, says Munafò, is that alcohol-boosted perceptions of attractiveness tend to become focused on potential sexual partners in environments conducive to sexual encounters. He aims to repeat the experiment after showing students a video of people flirting in a bar, to provide some appropriate social cues.

Munafò also intends to study how the effect varies with the amount of alcohol consumed – although ethical constraints rule out exploring doses at which our ability to focus on a face breaks down. "We can look at smaller doses and we can look at slightly higher doses," he says.

As well as changing perceptions of attractiveness, alcohol also encourages us to engage in behaviour we would otherwise avoid. In a study by Robert Leeman of Yale University students reported they were more likely to engage in risky sexual acts after drinking – which could be due to alcohol lowering our inhibitions through a direct effect on the brain or by providing a convenient excuse for such behaviour.

From New Scientist Print Edition