|
2003/02/05, 11:12 PM
I am a huge wine lover (and, in fact, collector), but have definitely cut back on the drinking in general, since 3/4 bottle each night (which I used to do) is not really consistent with losing weight and gaining muscle. However, it is my personal opinion that in moderation, drinking is perfectly fine. A lot of people would correctly argue that alcohol has little or no nutritive value so it is silly to waste your precious calories on them as opposed to healthy proteins and carbohydrates. While that is correct, numerous studies have shown that moderate drinking has other health benefits. The most recent study, and one that has gotten much attention in the press in the last month, showed that people who have 1-2 drinks on average per night (of ANY alcoholic beverage) had 17% less risk of stroke than people who did not drink at all. Other studies have shown that the tannins in RED wine reduce chance of heart disease generally. I personally like red wine more than white so I drink more of it for those reasons. For health reasons, I also think that red is marginally better for you. However, the average red is higher in alcohol than the average white (about 13.5% alcohol compared to about 10.5% for the whites). More alcohol means more calories. So if you are watching calories then white might be the better choice for you.
I am sure that others may have different opinions on this, but I think if you are eating too many carbohydrates then you should reduce across the board for all your meals rather than cutting them completely out after 6 p.m.
As usual, moderation is key. Good luck!
--------------
Peter
New York, New York
|
