Drinking a glass of wine a day may help you cope with muscle soreness, but too much can give you an achy hangover. Red wine contains an antioxidant called reservatrol, which may help reduce inflammation throughout the body. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Department of Exercise Science contend that antioxidants like vitamin C and E can help reduce muscle soreness after exercise; as of May 2011, no research has directly addressed reservatrol, red wine and post-exercise soreness.
Reservatrol
According to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, red wine contains an antioxidant called reservatrol. You don't have to drink red wine to get reservatrol: you can find it in purple grape juice, peanuts and some berries. Some scientists think reservatrol is responsible for the heart-protective effects of red wine. In a test tube, reservatrol neutralizes free radicals, which are molecules that contain unpaired electrons in their outer orbit. No one is really sure why, but this unpaired electron can damage cells. Exercise increases free radical production, and it may be partly responsible for the achy muscles you get after pushing yourself at the gym.
Antioxidants
The MayoClinic website explains that antioxidants work against free radicals. Your body naturally produces its own antioxidants, but you can also get them from food sources such as berries, beans, fruits, vegetables, green tea and red wine. In 2007, researchers from James Madison University showed that athletes who consumed antioxidants after their workout experienced less muscle soreness than the control group. Although it would provide antioxidants, no studies have yet proved that a post-exercise glass of merlot has a similar effect.
Alcohol
You might choose a glass of cabernet more for the alcohol than the antioxidants. Alcohol is a depressant, which means that it slows down many of your body's functions. If you are suffering from achy muscles, a glass of wine can dull the sensation of pain, allowing your muscles to relax. The positive effects of wine start to turn negative after the second or third glass: your body can't process the booze as fast as you drink it, and toxins start to build up. Your circulation slows down so that less blood and oxygen reach your muscles.
Excess
The morning after a red wine binge, you wake up with a hangover. The Healthfinder website explains that some of the classic hangover symptoms include muscle and joint aches, headache, thirst, fatigue, weakness and stomach upset. One likely cause for the hangover is that alcohol forces your body to flush too much fluid. This leaves you dehydrated and without enough water in your body to remove the waste products of alcohol from your system. The toxins build up in your muscles and organs, leaving you with the achy feeling that only time and water will cure.
References
- Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University: Reservatrol
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition": Antioxidants
- MayoClinic: Food Sources the Best Choice for Antioxidants
- "International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism": Postexercise Carbohydrate-Protein-Antioxidant Ingestion Decreases Plasma Creatine Kinase and Muscle Soreness: February 2007
- Oregon Counseling: Biological Effects of Alcohol Use
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