Having a glass of red wine to unwind at the end of a long day is a pretty common habit. And luckily, it turns out there are a lot of amazing red wine health benefits. But one you may not be aware of is weight loss!
HOW RED WINE CAN HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT
A number of different studies have been done to investigate the effects of red wine on weight loss and the results have been pretty favorable.
A study out of Harvard University tracked a group of 20,000 women for 13 years and concluded that women who drank two glasses of wine a day were less likely to be obese. Other studies have confirmed that red wine can help the body burn fat.
A further study from the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry tried to better understand how red wine can aid weight loss and what exactly is going on with grapes and the body.
Their experiment with mice revealed that mice that were given red wine grape extract stored less liver fat and also had lower blood sugar levels. Apparently the acids in the grapes can help delay and slow the growth of fat cells.
RED WINE AS A SNACK
Other people have found that drinking red wine is a good substitute for an evening snack. A glass of red wine has fewer calories than ice cream, cake, and chips and a lot less bad fat.
Linda Monk lost 6 pounds in three weeks using this strategy. She claims that drinking red wine helped to curb her sugar cravings and she was able to eat fewer unhealthy snacks before going to sleep.
ADDED RED WINE HEALTH BENEFITS
In addition to weight loss, there are a variety of other health benefits of red wine, especially its powerful ingredient resveratrol.
Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to help prevent a variety of different cancers. It is also great for your heart health and for preventing Alzheimer’s, as it helps to prevent cell damage.
Resveratrol has also been linked to longer life spans and to improved athletic performance.
CAUSE FOR CONCERN
It is important to remember, however, that just because red wine has some health benefits and can help you lose weight, doesn’t mean that you should drink a bottle a night. Moderation is key.
It should also be noted that red wine is a good alternative to a snack, not something to accompany it. If you end up drinking a glass of wine and having your cake too, well, the extra calories will only hurt.
You should also be careful about drinking the wine too late at night. For some people it leads to poorer quality sleep and drowsiness in the morning. But only you know how your body reacts.
More than anything, you can just be happy to know that having the occasional glass of red isn’t hampering your weight loss goals. It might even be helping.
Credits: http://www.fhfn.org