“Drink often, heart study suggests”
I’ll clink to that.
I’m sure that anti-alcohol advocates and teetotalers cringed when they spotted that Associated Press headline in newspapers across the country last week.
If you missed the big beverage news, here’s what the Jan. 9, 2003, story had to say:
“Scientists know that drinking can help prevent heart attacks, but new research suggests that how often you drink is more important than what or how much. Men who drank at least three days a week — whether beer, red or white wine, or liquor — had about one-third fewer heart attacks than did nondrinkers in a study being reported today in The New England Journal of Medicine. It made almost no difference whether they consumed half a drink or four.”
The AP article goes on to say that among those who drank just once or twice a week, the risk of heart attack fell only 16 percent. But it also noted that researchers emphasized that the findings applied only to moderate drinking, not heavy drinking (whose dangers are well established).
The French are certainly having the last laugh — and the “French Paradox” is even more valid than when it was introduced a dozen years ago.
CBS’ “60 Minutes” coined the French Paradox phrase in 1991 during a segment about the lush lifestyle of the French. Turns out that even though the French linger over lunches and dinners laden with such delights as butter, cheeses and sauces, their rate of heart disease was only 40 percent that of Americans. (And what about all those exotic Gauloise cigarettes that they smoke?)
R.Curtis Ellison, M.D., of the Boston University School of Medicine was featured on the broadcast and also in an article in the Oct. 31, 1998, issue of Wine Spectator magazine.
“Moderate alcohol consumption, especially moderate red wine consumption, is associated with much lower risk of heart disease and stroke — leading causes of death in the United States,” said Ellison.
So you wonder, how can the French lead what many consider to be a decadent lifestyle and live longer than we Yanks do? I have some unscientific theories based on my nonscientific visits to their country.
- The French move for their food. While Americans are crawling into their gas hogs, queuing up at fast food franchises and inhaling fake food on the freeway, the French walk to their neighborhood bistros or cafes. There they savor a leisurely lunch without a trace of fake food. Real bread, real butter, real salad drenched in real oil, real onion soup sprinkled with real cheese and a maybe a glass or two of real French wine. Topped off with a real espresso served in a real cup, of course.
- Even more important is the fact that the French enjoy themselves and each other while dining. Eating and drinking in France is part of their national pride, and nobody does it better. They know what they like, and you won’t catch them counting the calories in your crepes, adding up the carbs in your Croque Monsieur or arching an eyebrow over that glass of Courvoisier you ordered after dinner. Food and drink are to be enjoyed, as is life.
So here’s to moderation in all things. Along with no guilt. And if you do happen to catch me with a bottle or two of red vino in my grocery cart, don’t worry.
I’ll be fine — just like the wine.
FOOD (AND WINE) FOR THOUGHT:
“Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.”
Proverbs 31:6-7
“How simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea … all that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart.”
Nikos Kazantakis, Zorba the Greek
“What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?”
W.C. Fields
“What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow.”
A.A. Milne
“Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.”
Benjamin Franklin
“No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office.”
George Bernard Shaw
Sue Frause can be reached by e-mail at skfrause@whidbey.com.
