Healthy Food Choices: Red Wine

Red wine is a popular alcoholic drink made from red or black grapes. Try some tips for buying red wine in this healthy shopping video.

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May reduce risk of cardiovascular disease
Contains antioxidants
May help cholesterol levels
Avoid alcohol

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Michelle Cooper has been a registered dietician for more than 10 years. She currently works for the state of North Carolina for the New Hanover County School District in the Child Nutrition Department as the supervising registered dietician on staff. She specializes in child nutrition, child fitness and overall child health. She enjoys her job because it allows her to be a pivotal piece of child development.

MICHELLE COOPER: Next, we're going to talk about red wine. Most people won't consider red wine as part of a healthy diet. However, when looking at the French and realizing they have lower incidences of cardiovascular disease than the Americans, they decided to study their diet and found that it's tend to be high in red wine. What is it about red wine? A compound called resveratrol which is in the skin of the grapes. It can actually help lower your risk for cardiovascular disease by lowering your bad cholesterol. Some other compounds in wine that are good for you are polyphenols which are chemicals that act as antioxidants in the blood. Now, doctors aren't urging people to go out and drink wine. But if you do drink, it's okay to have a glass or two a day. In fact, it can help lower your risk for heart disease; however, if you have a family history of alcohol or diabetes or pregnant, you may need to avoid alcohol altogether. If you are going to drink wine, red wine is slightly more healthy than white wine because of the resveratrol. And a side note, resveratrol is part of the grape skin so you can get the same benefit by drinking red grape juice without the alcohol. So remember, red wine can be part of a healthy diet. If you have alcoholism in your family, you're pregnant or have diabetes, it's not encouraged to drink red wine but it can be part of a healthy diet in moderation.

Healthy Food Choices: Red Wine Video

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