Photo By:: Adil Arora
 Dr. Naresh Trehan whom I have known personally for over 2 decades often tells me and reaffirms that a glass or two of red wine are good for the heart and that he so recommends to his patients. But Dr. Kasliwal told me unabashedly that many of the heart patients are really stressed and he recommends a glass of red wine to them as a stress buster. He was categorical that the glass should have wine in it and not whisky.
I decided to get a feedback from the wine drinker in India, Carrying out a survey on the Facebook closed group of Indian Wine Academy, we asked a simple question, ‘Do you think wine CONSUMED IN MODERATION is effective stress buster? ‘A whopping 92% said it did and many commented that this was from their personal experience. Of course, our emphasis was on moderate consumption, defined loosely as one glass (125 mL) of wine with 12.5% alcohol for women and two glasses for men.
A UK government survey carried out a few years ago found that 51% of 25-44-year-olds drank alcohol to reduce stress. Another survey by a UK parenting website found that 49 % of mothers drank at home at least three or four nights a week. But the surveys did find that a worrying 81% of those drinking over the recommended guidelines cited their main reason as 'winding down after a stressful day'. The findings were backed up by a comprehensive study of 13,000 households that showed 37% of adults regularly exceeded the guideline amounts.
A study conducted last year and published in December 2014 in the journal Nature, reports that the Researchers found a small dose of Resveratrol helping your body deal better with stress. In technical jargon, it stimulates a specific stress-response protein, PARP-1, which then activates a number of genes that repair DNA, suppress tumor genes, and promote longevity genes. “Based on these results, it is conceivable that moderate consumption of a couple glasses of red wine would give a person enough Resveratrol to evoke a protective effect via this pathway,” says lead author Mathew Sajish, in the study. ‘Basically, it's proof that your glass or two of wine can help you stress less and live longer’, avers the Article, though oversimplifying the research findings.
Even the studies and advisories that warn against the use of wine or alcohol seem to focus more on the excessive use to de-stress rather than a glass recommended by Dr. Kasliwal ‘While alcohol can seem to make you more relaxed, if you're regularly drinking more than the government's lower risk guidelines, you could end up exacerbating stress,’ according to the Drinkaware website which recommends digging deeper into the cause of the stress in the first place and recommends therapies like exercise, walks, hot shower baths etc but recommends a glass of wine (‘or something’) with dinner only to avoid over-drinking.
A lot of similar studies have been done on the subject, most of them focusing on the long term effect of taking over-dose of wine or alcohol. A glass of red wine (even white is ok, if you prefer) is like a vitamin-good for the health when taken one a day (or as prescribed by the doctor) but which can turn toxic if you start taking more, assuming that the two might have twice the effect. Tendency to over-drink is a common factor, even if to de-stress. The more stressed you are, the more you are likely to drink. That, is something you certainly need to avoid. And needless to say, wine or any stress busting medication will not be good in the long run.
So you are welcome to take the advice of Dr. R.R. Kasliwal, Chairman of Clinical & Preventive Cardiology at Medanta-the Medicity in Gurgaon and have a glass of red wine (preferably) to reduce stress. In case you are stress-free in the evening, you may still follow the advice of Dr. Naresh Trehan and enjoy a glass or two of red wine-for the health of your heart.
Subhash Arora |