Are You Robbing Your
Health with Wine?

Despite all the talk about wine and health, I'm not a big fan of frequent alcohol. Why? Because I see too many women drinking hundreds of empty calories of wine every week for nothing. Even while they try to lose weight! They often don't notice how much they're sabotaging their success.

That shapely, cool glass of vino becomes their lover, their faithful companion, their escape. They have it most every night. Sometimes one glass, sometimes two or more.

Wine health benefits? Most of it from what it's made from - grapes! (Want those health benefits? Eat fresh grapes.)

The media's habit of looking at a substance's individual benefits instead of the whole impact often misses the point. If you're taking in those extra liquid calories (empty ones instead of calories from nutritional foods) with only minimal benefits, who cares?

For example, being overweight comes with more health risks than the small benefits gained from a few antioxidants here and there (or whatever the molecule of the month is). It's missing the forest for the trees. I'd so much rather see you eat a few fresh grapes to get some of those antioxidants.

Calories in Wine (almost entirely empty carbs):

• 5 fl oz of chablis or riesling is about 120 calories
• 5 fl oz of dry sherry is about 215 calories
• 5 fl oz of champagne is about 96 calories
• 5 fl oz of sake is about 190 calories
• 5 fl oz of sweet dessert wine is about 237 calories

Don't forget that your body processes alcohol as a poison (a poison is a substance with an inherent property that tends to destroy life or impair health). Perhaps that sounds too extreme given how much we revere indulgence in our society, but it's true, and it taxes our systems and dries us out (think of how you feel the next morning).

But it relaxes me.

There are so many better ways to relax. Try a warm bath, deep breathing, making love, yoga, calling a friend, herbal tea, or any other relaxation technique with ZERO calories.

Numbing yourself is not true relaxation, it's escape at a price. Find healthier ways to get that same relief and enhance your life instead of missing out on it. Support your body, don't drag it down.

But I deserve it.

You deserve great health and happiness. But without all of the negative side effects of something like wine or other alcoholic drinks.

I'm not saying to never have a glass of wine ever again, but don't underestimate it as harmless either. Make it feel special, appreciate every sip, and use a smaller glass (the sizes of some of those glasses are HUGE). Used selectively, wine and health can still go together.

Tip: Put your water in a fancy goblet. You get that same feeling of sophistication and still fit in with the group. Add a splash of fresh fruit juice for a prettier and sweeter drink for special occasions.

Be safe and choose your great health every day!

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