Happy Holidays from The French Paradox Team!

No matter what you celebrate this holiday season, The French Paradox Team, Lew and Becca, wish you the merriest of merry!

We hope you get plenty of quality time with friends and loved ones, and hope the festive holiday wines keep flowing!

An important editorial note:  We will be on vacation until January

Becca sipping on some Donnafugata Ben Rye at a Christmas party in 2013
Becca sipping on some Donnafugata Ben Rye at a Christmas party in 2013

5th, 2015!

Lew will be out recovering from his rotator cuff surgery and then spending quality time with his loving family.  Becca will be in Fayetteville, Arkansas, spending holidays with her loving husband and in-laws.

The French Paradox will return ALL NEW on January 5th, 2015!

To you and yours, HAPPY HOLIDAYS and a VERY MERRY NEW YEAR!

Cheers!

 

Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 12/23/2014

Please click on the links below to read the full articles.

Wine

Photo by CSIRO [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by CSIRO [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Alcohol

Continue reading Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 12/23/2014

Adding Wine Industry Grape By-Products to Muffins Makes Them Healthier — Maybe?

Muffins aren’t exactly on the list when you look up foods in the Mediterranean diet, but let’s face it, they are plentiful and they taste delicious.

Diet choices are for each individual (and their doctor) to decide, and

Photo by Veganbaking.net from USA (Vegan Apple Spice Muffins) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by Veganbaking.net from USA (Vegan Apple Spice Muffins) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
though there are certainly recommended food and drink items associated with the Mediterranean diet, most (if not all) of us still enjoy a rare treat every once in a while. For some of us, that treat is a muffin!

One recent study decided to take a look into making muffins a little healthier, and examined the effect of using grape by-products as ingredient when making a “model” muffin.

Why grape by-products? Grape by-products are the “leftovers” after grapes have been pressed for winemaking, and are known to contain health-benefitting compounds (i.e.: antioxidants, etc). The researchers processed these by-products into a fine powdered form, and added them to a model muffin mixture.

The finished muffins were then measured for CML (Ne-(carboxymethyl)lysine) content, a compound formed during the baking process, which is a potential toxin in food that can lead to diabetes, heart problems, Alzheimer’s, and premature aging.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Adding Wine Industry Grape By-Products to Muffins Makes Them Healthier — Maybe?

Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 12/22/2014

Please click on the links below to read the full articles.

Wine

Alcohol

Christmas & Hanukkah

Photo by Shinsuke Ikegame (Flickr: Okanagan Wine Tour) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by Shinsuke Ikegame (Flickr: Okanagan Wine Tour) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Continue reading Wine, Mediterranean Diet, and Your Health News for 12/22/2014

Italian Consumers Split on Nutritional & Health Claims of Diets

You may have read a lot about the nutritional and health claims of the Mediterranean diet (and other diets for that matter) touted by researchers, bloggers, journalists, and many others. The big question becomes: is anyone even listening?

A new paper from a group of researchers in Italy aimed to address this question, specifically focusing on whether these nutritional and

Photo by juliegomoll (Grocery shopping at the HyperMart in Cairo) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by juliegomoll (Grocery shopping at the HyperMart in Cairo) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
health claims are actually of interest to consumers, and if they are, which types of consumers are interested.

This was a relatively small pilot study, doing face-to-face interviews with 240 individuals who were in charge of the grocery shopping for their household in Milan, Italy.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Italian Consumers Split on Nutritional & Health Claims of Diets