A Glass of Wine to Keep You Sane

I've long said that wine helps me maintain my sanity. Well it turns out I may have been more right than I know. Researchers have recently discovered that while it doesn't necessarily make me smarter (damn!), it may help me stave off dementia or whatever special breed of insanity waits for me in my old age. Chalk up another superpower for wine.

Of course like all studies, this one has its limitations. Thankfully it wasn't performed on lab rats, but actually featured real people. Norweigans, specifically -- about 5000 of them. So the surest way to make sure that your cognitive abilities don't decline in old age would be to move to Norway, drink a lot of wine, and presumably eat lots of Lutefisk.

Interestingly, the study suggested that wine consumption only aided women's cognitive function (and beer consumption had negative effects) both wine and beer consumption enhanced men's cognitive function over time.

And the men of the world rejoiced.

The real question is whether or not the study is more broadly applicable beyond Norway, but just to be safe, I'm going to keep drinking wine. How about you?

Read the full story.

Posted by: Alder on August 19, 2010 5:03 PM: Tweet; Share this post elsewhere: Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit; Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News

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Comments (5)

1WineDude wrote:

08.23.10 at 3:55 AM

Aside from suggesting that we should all be Norwegian, this lends serious credence to the long-standing bar joke that men consume alcohol in order to encourage survival of the fittest among our brain cells, so that only the strongest and most evolved of those cells survives!

norma serrano wrote:

08.24.10 at 9:50 AM

I read that article and found it quite interesting. I knew wine had health benefits particularly with the Resveratrol found in Pinot Noir, now it makes me smarter. I'll drink to that!

mlfoley012 wrote:

08.24.10 at 4:56 PM

Perfect! I'm Norwegian and I love wine. (and alzheimer's runs in my family) I'm always looking for a good excuse to drink wine & this seems perfect! Thanks for the info!

Christina wrote:

09.13.10 at 5:12 PM

I'll drink to that as well! I've been justifying my wine drinking due to health benefits. So we've got heart and brain covered. Anything else? Everything in moderation of course...

Michelle wrote:

10.22.10 at 12:19 PM

This is just what I needed to hear! So now we know it's good for your heart, prevents cancer and stroke, AND helps our cognitive abilities? Raise a toast to good wine and good health!