De Vine The Benefits of Wine

Wine and Food

Red wine or white wine?

The time-honored rule - white wine with chicken or fish - red with meat, doesn't take into account a meal's layers of flavors or the distinctive flavor differences among red and white wines. Some wine experts say the right wine is a matter of personal taste anyway. After all, each person perceives flavor differently.

Drinking wine, either white or red, in moderate amounts may offer some heart-healthy benefits, perhaps boosting HDL- (good) cholesterol, helping prevent LDL- (bad) cholesterol from forming, or helping prevent blood platelets that cause heart attacks and strokes from clotting. Plant substances in grapes, such as resveratrol (flavonoid) and tannins, may contribute to these benefits. The alcohol may be a factor, too.

To get heart-healthy benefits from the wine:

• Enjoy the wine you like, but no more than one 5-ounce glass of wine daily for women; for men, it's two.

• Drink grape juice. If you don't drink wine, grape juice may offer some of the same heart-healthy benefits.