A tipple a day keeps obesity at bay: study
Women who drink a couple of glasses of red wine, beer or spirits a day are better at keeping the pounds off than women who do not drink at all, according to a study published Monday.
Researchers at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston asked more than 19,000, normal-weight US women aged 39 or older how many alcoholic beverages they typically drank in a day, and then tracked the women for around 13 years.
The largest single group -- 7,346 women or just over 38 percent -- said they didn't drink a drop, according to the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a publication of the American Medical Association.
The second biggest group -- 6,312 women or nearly a third of those surveyed -- reported drinking the equivalent of around a third of a five-ounce glass of wine or a third of a 12-ounce beer. They did not explain how they managed to do so.
Twenty percent of the women said they drank the equivalent of up to a glass of wine, a 12-ounce beer, or a single-shot drink made with 80-proof spirits, while six percent said they had up to two drinks a day and three percent had more than two.
Over the 13-year follow-up period, the women who did not drink at all gained the most weight, and the women who had the equivalent of two drinks a day were the least likely to pack on pounds.
The best drink for keeping the pounds off was red wine, but all four types of tipple included in the study -- red or white wine, beer and spirits -- showed the same "inverse association between alcohol intake and risk of becoming overweight or obese," the study found.
The authors cautioned, however, against making recommendations on alcohol use as a tool against obesity, given the potential medical and psycho-social problems associated with drinking.
The women's alcohol intake was recorded in grams of alcohol.
A five-ounce (150 ml) glass of wine, 12-ounce beer or one mixed drink made with a single, 1.5-ounce shot of 80-proof alcohol all contain around 14 grams of pure alcohol and are considered "standard drink sizes" in the United States, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 3/8/2010
Wine Investment: Is it only a rich mans game?
Investment wine like all things vino related comes with its own lingo and what appears to be closed inner circle of those that are in the know, intimidate with their talk of En Primeur, left bank, right bank and perfectly pronounced names of French chateaux. But all this bluff and bravado is easily interpreted and wine investment is no more for the “anointed” few than wine generally is today.
One of the first things you have to sort out before you embark on your quest for vino riches is what type of investor are you? There tends to be three categories of wine investor all wanting to achieve financial gain but all doing it in rather different ways. The first is the True Investor, this person is not even necessarily that into wine and may not even drink it, but invests purely to achieve appreciation on the asset. The second is the break even investor who loves their wine but may not have the budget to be drinking those rare gems. As such they buy their investment, will drink some and use the appreciation on the remaining asset to pay for the pleasure of doing it. The third investor is seeking to buy wine today that they want to drink tomorrow without paying tomorrow’s lofty prices. This is how the rich get richer and enjoy a lifestyle we all envy!
Now that you have worked out what type of investor you are the next thing to do is destroy a few more myths. The first, investing in wine is not black magic and the rules that apply to buying shares apply directly to investment wines, buy low and sell high to make that profit.
The one of the most important myths you need to bust is that all investment wine comes from France. While France is the traditional market for investment wine and has a long history, it is typical of most things traditional they are a narrow and now outdated look at the market. The wine market is now global and the term new world is still referring to markets such as Australia, South Africa, North and South America which have all been producing wine for over two hundred years. And if the truth be know the French vines are actually American after the French vines were killed off by a particularly nasty bug called phylloxera in the late 1800’s. Also if you are an anything other than a pure profit investor French wines may not be to your liking which makes the overall investment rather pointless.
Like all shares there are different types or grades of wine that have different attributes relating to price, liquidity and risk. These wines fall into three commonly accepted categories, Blue Chip, Emerging and Cult. Blue Chips are your safest bet and they have a long history of returning on investment but commonly these returns are safe but not necessarily spectacular. Emerging wines are those that have entered the market and have been showing good returns for a number of years but don’t have the history of Blue Chips. They offer the investor the opportunity to enter the market at a lower price and achieve a higher liquidation price when demand increases for the product. The risk of course is that future vintages fail and the brand never reaches those heights. Cults on the other hand are hard to pick but when they hit the market they take it by storm and prices can rocket over night with huge returns to be made. Entry prices on cults can sometimes be ridiculously low compared to future trading prices, but be warned these are few and far between and very difficult to find unless you really know your stuff. Like shares you have to buy into the investments that suite your budget and also your realistic expectations on when you can liquidate the investment to realize the profit. As such the rules of price, supply and demand still ring true for investment wines. And unfortunately this is also where many investors run into trouble with French blue chips as not many investors have the initial cash to buy into the investment to start with and if they can they are purchasing very few cases or even bottles so their investment is all in one basket. Why not look at an alternative range of wines the spreads the risk across the different categories.
Importantly with all investments research your product. The die hard fancofile will argue that is why you only invest in French wine as there is so much literature on Bordeaux, and in Asia they certainly have a point as the Nuevo rich in China are buying up everything they can find with the name Rothschild on it. But we are now living in the information age and there are thousands of web pages on every region in the world, every vintage and the price on labels that come from those regions. Use this information to check up on what your broker is telling you, research prices in other markets and read columns by wine experts that don’t have an interest in selling you investments. Finally use the information to look at future market trends, eg the rise of wine in Asia and the styles that are being consumed as this tip might just help you find that cult wine that will put you in front of the pack not following it.
The Wine Club
The Wine You Drink Says About Your Character
This week I was going to write an article on the emergence of a number of new wine investment companies in Singapore and give you an update on a how a few of the established ones are traveling or not traveling as the case maybe. While this will be a timely article unfortunately it is not yet ready as I am waiting on a few last bits of information. As such I thought I would break with the dreary investment news and instead have a look at an interesting article I saw awhile ago that instead of investigating what a wine can do for you it investigates what the wine you drink says about you. I stumbled across this article in one of the local rags while settling back in my hotel room sipping on a nice glass of locally produced ****** ( I am not telling what as you will see why!) on one of my vineyard trips. The basis of this article was trying to diagnose your character by the type of wine that you drink. Now this got the amateur Freud in me going I am an avid CSI watcher and I thought this would be quite the laugh, especially when used in my line of work. My notes are a little scratchy as that glass of ****** (still not telling) had turned into a bottle, but this was the basis of what the article said about each wine and the corresponding personality:
Chardonnay
Bacchus is your blood brother as you’ll probably drink just about anything so long as it’s alcoholic, you like Chardonnay best because like you, it’s stood the test of time - even if it’s not quite cool anymore. You’re dependable, modest and admired for your steadfast beliefs…if a little feared for your tendency to slip into control-freak mode when under pressure. Likely hangout: Power lunches, couch in front of the telly watching even D-grade movies just to see how they end.
Sauvignon Blanc
You are sweet natured, easy going and like things to be as uncomplicated as possible. You’re a hard worker but you still consider yourself a bit of a ‘hipster’ - you want to be young forever and tend to agonise over big life decisions longer than most. However, once the big decisions are made you sure can celebrate! Likely hangout: End of the bar lamenting how you suddenly became so old.
Pinot Gris
You’re the sort of person others like to have around. You are easy and undemanding and effortlessly fit in to various social situations, you big flirt. If you were to have a small weakness, it would be your enslavement to fashion and your love of a good bit of juicy gossip. Likely hangout: Any kind of official opening for something cool, bars where you can sit close enough to eavesdrop.
Riesling
You consider yourself to be a bit of an intellectual, but love to have a good time when you’re in company. Nothing ever gets past you either – you’re perceptive and know what makes the people around you tick. You’re not scared of using this to your advantage. Likely hangout: Festival events, after work drinks, anywhere you can work the room.
Viognier
You ooze sophistication and style and more than a hint of smoky mystic, but mostly you just like being able to drink a wine most people struggle to pronounce the name of. Likely hangout: Posh restaurants, ‘concept’ buildings.
Pinot Noir
Knowledgeable and fond of your luxuries, you like to charm and seduce, but can be a tad moody at times. You are driven to achieve success but at the same time are a bit of a romantic who craves the quite life. Likely hangout: Dinner parties, the back yard watching the sun go down.
Shiraz
You’re honest and dependable and people like you for this – even if you do put your foot in your mouth from time to time with the bluntness of your observations. You like a good yarn and are seldom happier than when catching up with an old friend. Likely hangout: Gastro pubs, the kitchen, at a mate’s place.
Merlot
You're easy-going, tend to go with the flow and don’t mind being organised so long as it results in having a good time. Most common words to come out of your mouth are likely to be along the lines of “Wherever you like” or “I’ll have what you’re having”. Likely hangout: Wherever you’ve been told to go.
Cabernet Blends
You have sophisticated tastes, but know the value of things, so nothing’s wasted on you. Your strong opinions can rub some people up the wrong way, but you are sincere and open minded enough to be convinced by a good argument. Likely hangout: Steak houses.
Bubbly
Demanding and high maintenance, you are all about grabbing life for the living and taking what’s yours. More than likely to be a bit manic and prone to over committing on social engagements, but your energy and enthusiasm is infectious… if a little exhausting. Likely hangout: Anywhere big enough to fit all 20 friends you invited to join you for a ‘quiet drink’.
Rose
Did somebody say party? You’re spontaneous and funny, if a little flighty. You live for summer and good times and grasp at any opportunity to keep you in that happy state of mind. Likely to agree to do things that terrify the rest of us or involve putting yourself in harms way for the rush of it. Likely hangout: Anywhere with outdoor seating, lots of people or foam.
Could this be to speed dating what the 5 minute complete work out was to the 8 minute complete work out? Forget all about the, Cat / Dog questions and cut to the chase “what sort of wine do you drink?” and bingo move right along or he/she is a keeper. Probably not, but if you are honest with yourself I bet you can match one of these wines to you character. If you are having trouble being honest with your self and really want to know, just ask an ex boyfriend/girlfriend, which is exactly why I am not telling you what I was drinking that night!
David Coleman
