More reasons to Drink Wine
Maybe wine IS God’s gift to man. Every year seems to bring new discoveries of how wine is good for us.
The latest discovery, and one of the more intriguing, is one which iidentifies red wine as helping to induce sleep due to the high amounts of melatonin, a hormone that is produced in our bodies and that helps regulate our internal "body clock", which tells us when to sleep.
Italian researches now tell us that some grapes they tested, particularly Nebbiolo, has very high amounts of this compound. The researches concluded the existence of melatonin in the grape skins of Nebbiolo and other grape varieties that eventually make their way into wine, could keep help us keep up a regular sleep schedule if taken regularly.
Of course there’s always the skeptics. This time its those who point out that maybe its the alcohol that would make us sleep better. Yea…it could be that. But did they have to go on to say that alcohol before bed can provide a less restful sleep? Damn those skeptics.
I’ve suffered from chronic insomnia for years, and my doctors have been trying to get me to give up my nightly wine for most of that time, but to no avail. They definitely say that alcohol (much like marijuana) in the later part of the evening may help you fall asleep, but it won’t keep you asleep because once it metabolizes in your system, you get a “second wind” and your body is likely to wake and be restless. So their first recommendation is always “No wine 3 hours before bedtime”….to which I always respond “I’ll keep the insomnia. Nighttime is a great time to pay my bills and catch up on laundry.”