What are the benefits of wine?

(MedicalNewsToday) - Wine, especially red wine has been studied extensively over many years, with impressive findings for heart benefits, longer lifespan, cancer protection, and better mental health.

It is not only red wine that has received praise. Scientists reported in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry that white wine is just as heart healthy as red.

However, as many more studies have focused on red wine, most of the content and quotes in this article refer to red wine.

A brief history of wine

According to Cornell University, archeologists date grape cultivation and wine making to sometime between 6,000 and 4,000 BC in Mesopotamia and the coastal areas of the Caspian Sea. At that time royalty, the clergy and the aristocracy enjoyed wine while peasants and commoners drank ale, mead and beer.

Jancis Robertson, in "The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd Edition", wrote that ancient Egyptian Papyri and Sumerian tablets dating back to 2200 BC are the oldest documents that mention wine as a man-made medicine. In ancient Egypt, wine was also savored mainly by royalty and the upper classes

When wine making arrived in ancient Greece, it was enjoyed by the whole spectrum of society, and became a popular theme in literature, religion, leisure, medicine and mythology.

Hippocrates, often referred to as the "father of western medicine", promoted wine as part of a healthy diet. He also claimed that wine was good for disinfecting wounds, as well as a liquid in which medications could be mixed and taken more easily by patients. Hippocrates said wine should be used to alleviate pain during childbirth, for symptoms of diarrhea, and even lethargy.