Community | March 11, 2009 | 6 comments

People WANT wine to be good for them

source: http://www.slate.com/id/2211597/pagenum/all/#p2

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uponrooftops
"60 Minutes recently ran a segment about the health benefits of red wine, specifically the apparently wondrous powers of resveratrol, a polyphenol that is found in the skin of grapes and is thought to prevent illness and promote longevity. This wasn't the first time 60 Minutes has trumpeted the virtues of red wine; in 1991, it called attention to the so-called French Paradox, which posited that the low rate of heart disease in France, despite a national diet gloriously abundant in rich foods, was due to the country's prodigious consumption of red wine. That report not only prompted an outbreak of oenophilia in the United States; it fanned an obsessive interest in the nutritional and therapeutic properties of wine. This seems to be a particularly American fixation, and it raises an intriguing question: Why are we—Americans—so anxious to find justifications for drinking wine beyond the fact that it tastes good and we like it?"

(and my favorite segment...)
"This combination of lab mice, outlandishly large doses, and extravagant claims recently yielded a very funny piece in The New Yorker, one which zeroed in on an essential point: Red wine may contain resveratrol, but it contains substantially more alcohol. Regardless of how beneficial wine ultimately proves to be for the heart, lungs, groin, and other body parts, we already know it has a powerful and mostly salutary psychological influence. Wine—or, to be more precise, the alcohol in wine—leaves us happy; it is a relaxant, a stimulant, a balm. It can make a bad day good and a good one better."


...
So my take on all of this is...
people want a justification to get intoxicated. If they think that the minimal amounts of antioxidants they get from wine are enough to reap benefit while their livers and kidneys are suffering, let them.
But isn't it just so...goddamn...annoying... to hear people go on insufferably about how "good" this shit is for you... when I'm sure a bottle of cranberry or pomegranate juice would be much better?
  1. groups:
    Community,   Health,   Alcohol
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    News,  Health,  US,  America,  8 more
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6 comments // People WANT wine to be good for them

  • unclecharlie
    • 0
      unclecharlie  

    • pjacobs has a valid point. The way some people talk, smoking marijuana can stop global warming, stop war in the Middle East, solve the country's unemployment situation, prevent asteroids from hitting the earth "Keep smoking, people- it looks like it may be heading AWAY from us!!" I'll pour myself a glass of Mad Dog 20/20 (naw-screw that- I'll drink it straight from the bottle) just as soon as I finish up this reefer......

    • 3 years ago
  • cerealforeal
  • Scarabus
    • 0
      Scarabus  

    • I certainly don't feel as if I need a justification for drinking wine. In fact, I'm going to go and pour myself a glass right now.

    • 3 years ago
  • noxidereus
    • 0
      noxidereus  

    • I agree to an extent. I do like wine, but don't drink for my health. What's really goddamn annoying is people who WANT to demonize people who want some enjoyment out of life. It isn't wrong to want to get your buzz on every once in a while to counteract the fact that life is full of stress. I am talking about the kind of people who think everything that is enjoyable is a shameful sin.

      I'm not sure why some people are like that, but I think it stems from some combination of fear, ignorance, jealousy, or to be holier-than-thou. It does not stem from concern about the other person's health.

    • 3 years ago
  • pjacobs51
    • 0
      pjacobs51  

    • I think it's only natural for people to want justification to get intoxicated. Just look at all the posts here on Current about all the benefits of Marijuana. After reading these posts one would be posed to think this plant could save the planet from every catastrophic element known to man.

      But in the end it's about intoxication.

      We have a built in necessity to compensate for our decadence.

      A feather is light.
      What is light cannot be dark.
      Therefore, a feather cannot be dark.

    • 3 years ago
  • noxidereus
    • 0
      noxidereus  
    • pjacobs51:

      It might be a bit exaggerated, but marijuana does in fact have medicinal properties and is much safer than what the drug companies are selling us. But, I would absolutely still like it even if it didn't. Alcohol is much worse for you than that.

    • 3 years ago
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