THE demon drink has been found to be a culprit in so many health problems - not to mention car accidents - that you might be forgiven for believing that all your worries would be over if you gave it up altogether. But not so fast. Your Good Health! (Souvenir "Press, £7.99 in UK), a new book translated from the French of homeopathic doctor and wine lover Dr Emeric Maury, claims that moderate and regular wine drinking is actually good for your health.
Not only that but different wines have different medicinal effects. According to Dr Maury, wines of the Medoc are good for bacterial infections and diarrhoea, while Sancerre helps with acidosis and bladder problems. Regular doses of extra dry Champagne - for those who can afford it - will apparently relieve cardiac problems, detoxify your whole system and boost a poor appetite.
The whole secret is, says Dr Maury, to drink a couple of glasses twice a day with meals. Never drink on an empty stomach, he cautions: even if you are offered wine as an aperitif, make sure to nibble a few snacks at the same time. This is because, without food in your stomach, the alcohol passes too quickly into the bloodstream and cannot be properly broken down by the liver, leading not only to inebriation but to eventual cell damage in the body tissue, says Dr Maury.
The correct eating patterns will help the body to tolerate the alcoholic effects of wine. A mixture of vegetables and fruit and "products rich in animal or vegetable fats" is recommended; also the consumption of plenty of the vitamin B complex, most commonly found in wholemeal or brown bread.
Certain wines can aid the digestive process and the functioning of the alimentary canal, claims Dr Maury. Dry wines from the Champagne region are good for people with flatulence and should be drunk before a meal: "The potassium tartare they contain helps to contract and tone the muscular fibres of the stomach wall, and the presence of natural carbonic acid revives the organ's elasticity."
People with a tendency for heartburn should restrict themselves to red or white wines which are low in acidity and rich in calcium, such as the wines of Anjou or the Saumurois; Sauternes ore Barsac, says Dr Maury: "No more than one or two glasses should be drunk with meals, and the menu should be chosen to take account of digestive difficulties; your doctor or dietician will advise you.
FOR those who suffer from sluggish digestion, he recommends the wines of the Medoc as "a tonic", as they are rich in iron, phosphates and tannins, and will give the stomach wall "greater elasticity, speeding up the digestion of food". Wine can also help you metabolise fats faster, adds Dr Maury, because it "promotes the secretion of pancreatic juice, rich in lipase, an enzyme which metabolises fats".
Dr Maury is very much against the "spartan" habits of the 1990s where people drink water with their meals. He believes that water should be taken only to quench thirst. If consumed with meals, it can cause dyspepsia: "Relying on this tasteless beverage affects the elasticity of the stomach cavity and changes the catalytic value (the ability to break down foods) of the digestive juices.
The number of people who drink wine in Ireland is still relatively small, with wine purchases accounting for only 8 per cent of the total amount spent on alcohol, according to David Dillon, director of the Wine and Spirit Association. "But the number of people who drink wine is rising. Five years ago, 29 per cent of the adult population in Ireland drank wine, whereas now that number has risen to 40 per cent." The increase in wine consumption goes right across all the usual divides, encompassing adults of every age and social background, from every part of the country, he adds. White is still more popular than red, and French wine still accounts for 44 per cent of all table wine sold here, although wines from countries like the US, Australia and Chile are becoming increasingly popular.
A large survey in Denmark (the results of which were published in the British Medical Journal last year) showed that moderate, regular wine drinkers had a longer life expectancy than those who did not drink at all or those who drank other forms of alcohol like beer; and a substantially longer life expectancy than those who drank spirits. In the US in 1992 a CBS 60 Minutes programme entitled The French Paradox asked why the French have a lower rate of coronary heart disease than the Americans, despite their love of cheese and cigarettes, and lack of enthusiasm for energetic sport. The conclusion was that moderate, regular consumption of red wine with meals resulted in lower amounts of the artery clogging variety of cholesterol.
"There is evidence to suggest that the consumption of red wine improves the ratio between good cholesterol and bad cholesterol," says Dr William Christopher, a GP in Mallow, Co Cork, who has a vineyard of eight acres and sells his wine to local restaurants. If he has a patient with coronary problems who is already a social drinker and who is inquiring about the best sort of drinking habits. Dr Christopher will tell the patient about the aforementioned benefits of moderate amounts of red wine.
The other beneficial effects of wine drinking claimed by Dr Maury he dismisses as sounding "purely anecdotal". Nevertheless, Dr Maury's contention that the right wine can help with diarrhoea, is backed up by a recent report in the British Medical Journal which found that both Portuguese redtable wine and Californian chardonnay reduce travellers' diarrhoea in 20 to 39 minutes. It concluded: "The antibacterial property of wine is largely responsible for wine's reputation as a digestive aid."
Vivien Reid, dietician at the Department of Preventive Medicine and Cardiology at St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, and chairperson of the Council of Nutrition at the Irish Heart Foundation, is not thoroughly convinced by the surveys she has read about the advantages of drinking red wine: "I have read other studies which show that regular moderate drinking of all forms of alcohol have the same beneficial effect." She says that the tannin and the anti oxidants in the grapes from which red wine is made may be beneficial to heart health but "a lot more research needs to be done, as the exact mechanisms involved are still not known".
NEITHER she nor Dr Christopher would dream of suggesting to a teetotaller that he or she should take up drinking wine for the good of their health: "Better health involves a lifestyle package, and drinking in a sensible and healthy way would be only one part of that," she says.
She also notes that the way wine is drunk in France is, in itself, a factor which influences health: "They always drink wine with meals, and they take a long time over eating: it is a social, family affair which is relaxed, and more thought goes into the food that is eaten. It is a much healthier way of eating and drinking. We don't take that sort of trouble in Ireland." Dr Maury makes the point that wine consumed in the stressful environment of a fast food restaurant with too much noise and bright lights will not have nearly the same positive effect as wine which is drunk in a harmonious atmosphere with "properly prepared foods".
Dr Maury does stress that he is not advocating wine as a substitute for conventional medicine, merely as a supplementary remedy, and one which needs to be tailored to the needs of each individual. He cites certain complaints, such as inflammation of the kidneys, or cystitis, where it would be unsuitable to drink dry white wines, for example. The diabetic should not take "mellow or liqueur type wines", but should opt instead for red Bordeaux wines or Alsatian wines like Riesling with meals.
Dr William Christopher notes while he agrees in a general, unscientific way that drinking wine in moderation is good for your health, its beneficial effect is also dependent on how the wine is made: some wines are concocted from "the sweepings and leftovers of the vineyard floor". He believes that the chief benefit of wine is probably that it helps you "to relax and have fun".
Whether or not the conventional medical experts in Ireland fully agree, Dr Maury is determined to extol the virtues of the "divine nectar" of his native land, concluding: "By its very nature and because of the natural ingredients that make it up, wine can be regarded as a food, a physical and mental tonic, an aid to digestion, a mineral supplement, an antibiotic, an anti allergic agent. It provides vitamins, regulates the system and we must not forget its preventative and stabilising effect on the whole of the cardiovascular system."