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| In Vino Veritas: Its A Drink to Your Health |
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| 更多英语知识学习请访问:英语学习 |
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Hemingway called it 鈥渢he most civilized thing in the world,鈥?Ambrose Bierce said it was, 鈥淕od鈥檚 next best gift to man,鈥?and the Scot scholar John Stuart Blackie went even further, declaring it 鈥渢he drink of the gods.鈥?br />
As for whether a god would drink wine, there are as many opinions as there are gods and religions. Greek mythology鈥檚 Dionysius and his Roman incarnation, Bacchus, did not shrink from celebrating the excesses of intoxication in the most shocking ways. In contrast the Qur鈥檃n warns of the dangers of wine and forbids it for mortals but promises that in paradise the faithful will be given 鈥渞ivers of wine of joyous taste.鈥?Jews are not forbidden alcohol, but many follow the traditional laws and drink only kosher wines. Christian religions vary in practice according to their interpretation of scriptures about wine. The Bible certainly stresses the pitfalls of over-indulgence but contains examples of those who enjoyed it in moderation. Within its pages one young man is even advised, 鈥渄rink no longer water, but use a little wine for the stomach鈥檚 sake and for your often infirmities.鈥?br />
These last words illustrate that, whether or not it can rightfully be called 鈥渢he drink of the gods,鈥?wine has long been considered to have health-enhancing properties. Indeed, the Romans believed it maintained youth and restored vigor and it now seems they may have been on to something.
Zipping ahead a couple of millennia, we find this encouraging November 2006 press release from Harvard scientists: 鈥淩esearchers have used a single compound to increase the lifespan of obese mice . . . The research, led by investigators at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging, is the first time that the small molecule resveratrol has been shown to offer survival benefits in a mammal . . . resveratrol is found in red wines.鈥?Researchers considered their findings 鈥減ositive clinical indicators鈥?that similar results would occur in humans.
Anti-aging properties are not the only health benefits of wine being studied by researchers, however. Michael Downey points out another in the January 2003 issue of Better Nutrition: 鈥淢ore than 100 scientific reports since 1991 provide strong evidence that wine consumption prevents heart disease,鈥?he writes. Downey then asks rhetorically, 鈥淏ut didn鈥檛 some studies point to red wine over white? And wasn鈥檛 there some suggestion that grape juice is just as beneficial?鈥?His conclusion after fully fermenting the fruit of his research is that, yes鈥攔ed wine is more protective than white, and no鈥攇rape juice isn鈥檛 quite as effective as wine. Almost鈥攂ut not quite. In fact, he says, the alcohol plays a role in intensifying the beneficial effects. 鈥淓very glass of wine contains about 200 different polyphenols, and many are antioxidants, which slow the damaging cell oxidation [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] 下一页 更多英语知识学习请访问:英语学习
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