Does Wine make you Smarter?

By | January 27, 2015

Introduction

Have you ever thought that drinking alcohol could have a very positive effect on your brain? Good news for those smartwho like a drink! Two separate and independently performed studies concluded that moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages, but especially wine, which stimulates the brain, can lead to improved brain function. So the answer to the question “does wine make you smarter” apparently is affirmative! Unbelievable? Just follow through and find out that wine makes you smarter.

Boston University

Here I go with study number 1. The Boston University Medical Centre confirmed this wine effect in a study concluded in 2013 where Norwegian researchers had followed more than 5,000 men and women for seven years.  During this period, the cognitive abilities were tested in a variety of ways. Guess what? When women drink wine four glasses of wine per week or more, their test results were significantly better than when they drank less than one glass of wine in the same period.

Other factors

The study also took into account other factors that could influence the results, such as education, depression, age, heart problems and smoking. But here is a little side note. The authors claim that this miraculous effect of wine also has to do with the profession, age or socio-economic status, factors which have not exactly been included in the study.

London study

This is study number 2. Earlier the University of London had done research on the same subject. The research was wine fundone among, believe it or not, 6,000 British civil servants (not during working time I hope). The outcome showed that the officials who drank three glasses per week were smarter and faster in performing maths and language tasks than officials who drank less. And now for the big unexpected…. Especially women get even smarter if they drink wine moderately! After just one glass the researchers noticed the difference. This positive effect is the result of wine stimulating the circulation of the blood flow to the organs, including the brain.

History

 In the last three decades, the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and cognitive performance was examined no less than 68 times! Most results suggest that light or moderate drinking for example does diminish the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s. This is possible because the wine contains certain antioxidants.

What do antioxidants do?

All our bodies generate free radicals, which are atoms or molecules with an odd number of electrons that are very unstable and at every interaction with healthy cells cause damage to those cells and thus disease. Every moment of the day our body cells are under attack by these molecules.

We have a means to fight them, antioxidants! They give an electron to the free radical and neutralize it that way so that they become harmless. So, how do we obtain these antioxidants? Very easy, we take them in through our daily food consumption and produce them ourselves during a good night’s sleep. Drinking some wine happens to be one of the many ways of this intake.

Is this your free ticket?

happy wineSo here it is, drinking wine can be very good for your body and brain function. However, do not get over excited and think you can now drink a bottle of wine every day and become/stay healthy. Or that you will be an instant new Einstein. Like with all good things in life, enjoy it in moderation and you will enjoy a lot longer.

Remember that a bottle of wine also contains alcohol, which actually is fermented sugar, and thus can render you intoxicated and can have you taking too many calories. See my earlier blogs on wine and headaches and calories in wine.

Feedback

On this site I am collecting and giving you access to the world best Chardonnays from the eight best countries in the world. I now have reviewed and rated a number of them. Click on the pictures on the right hand side (for mobile users just under this text) and find reviews for Chardonnays deliverable to the USA, UK and Australia.

If you have questions, then please leave them in the comment box and I will get back to you soonest.

13 thoughts on “Does Wine make you Smarter?

  1. robert

    Amazing detail! I will keep the site as a reference on wine. I have made my own wine so knew a bit about the process, but your site is amazing. I was looking for information on wine making and sources of wine making supplies..was it there and I missed it?

    Reply
    1. Jerry

      Thanks Robert, making wine at home is on my to do list for the short future. I have already collected some information, but it still needs verifying. I will also cover the wine making supplies and its sources. Thank you for keeping my site as a reference! Jerry

      Reply
  2. Jewel Carol

    Hi Jerry

    Thank you for yr post on “does wine make you smarter”. 🙂

    This is indeed an interesting blog post and do I think wine make me smarter? I am not sure, I don’t drink that much but I love Benedictine Dom which is a tonic liquer drink and I find it helps me when I feel weak or my body is feeling cold with flu. But I think many people will have different response to different wine effect. But the thing is, in my opinion, as long as you drink wine or liquer and it gives you better health effects or even makes you stronger or think better, then why not? There is nothing to lose seriously as long as you drink it moderately, don’t you think so?

    Anyway, I like yr blog post on “does wine make you smarter”. Good job, keep it up!!

    Jewel Carol

    Reply
    1. Jerry

      Thanks Jewel, so you finally succeeded in commenting. I am glad you never gave up! As with any alcoholic beverage, drinking wine in moderation (I agree with you) will have some health effects. Having said this, any drink which make you feel better is ok. Thanks again.

      Reply
  3. Ken

    I have also read a few of these reports. I am waiting the a study to show what is the exact cause. I have a theory it may be the alcohol. Some studies may find beer has the same effects but take longer, So what’s the difference? The fruit in the wine must be the difference.

    Reply
    1. Jerry

      Thanks Ken, Alcohol certainly has an effect on the brain as it dilutes the veins and thins the blood, therefore I agree with you that beer also can have an effect. However, always in moderation of course.

      Reply
  4. Darrell Dickinson

    Hi Jerry, Your post is very interesting, and informative. I wonder what the study makers have to say about drinking beer. I don’t drink anymore, but when I was drinking, beer was my drink of choice. I’d like to see what I my be missing out on, if anything.
    Thanks for the fine post
    Darrell

    Reply
    1. Jerry

      Hello Darrell, thanks for the comment and I am glad you like the post. Here is something positive about drinking of beer. For instance, moderate amounts of alcohol may be good for the heart. An Emory University study involving over 2,200 elderly men and women discovered that those who consumed at least 1.5 drinks daily had up to a 50% lesser risk of suffering from heart failure. Another study conducted by Germany, France and the United Kingdom found that moderate consumption of beer or wine may have anti-inflammatory properties, which can lower the risk of coronary heart disease. The French, who drink lots of red wine and have the highest per capita alcohol consumption, actually have one of the lowest rates of coronary heart disease mortality.

      Beer can also be good for your brain. Using an MRI, a Boston scientist discovered that light drinkers (one to six drinks a week) to moderate drinkers (seven to 14 drinks a week) have fewer strokes than non-drinkers, probably because of alcohol’s effect in thinning the blood and preventing the formation of tiny blood clots in the brain. Hope this cheers you up!

      Reply
  5. Vanessa

    I know that antioxidants promote good health and that certain wines actually are healthful, but I don’t think wine consumption makes a person smarter than they already are. Depending on the task, the wine might actually facilitate better completion of said task but making a person smarter? If getting smart was that easy, then maybe we’d all be wine “bibbers” (lol). It would be interesting to know what the researchers’ definition of “smart” is as well as the methodology used for these studies. I am also thinking that volunteering for a study like this would have a positive psychological effect on the participants; a placebo effect of some sort, and as such, result in a more relaxed state of mind, which could facilitate optimum task completion. Do you have any idea if the researchers accounted for such a variable?

    Reply
    1. Jerry

      Thanks Vanessa, I think your questions are very rightly so. At the moment I have no further background on this study, but I have meanwhile sent a message to Boston University to get some more information. I will come back to you after I receive their reply.

      Reply
      1. Jerry

        Hi Vanessa, up to now I have not received any reply from Boston University. I will keep trying as I am interested myself.

        Reply

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