Wines have long been used for their medicinal effects. History is riddled with examples of people believing that it can cure back pain, get rid of aids, help your joints and even make your hair grow thicker.Sadly, its more often the case that wine (and alcohol in general) contributes more to the cause of health problems than the cure. Believe it or not over 1500 people injured themselves in 2008 in the U.S just by using a bottle opener.Having said this, wine does sometimes prove to have some positive effects on the body, and one of them has been demonstrated by scientists at the University of Minnesota, who claim that the inclusion of wine in massage helps the muscle recovery process.
The claim follows a 7 month trial carried out at the university, where mainly athletes with muscles tissue damage had wine applied and rubbed into the skin as part of the recovery massage regime. The results very clearly highlighted that the subjects who were massaged with wine, had a muscle recovery rate that was around 15% faster than those subjects who had traditional sports massages. Tim Herring from the Universities Sports Sciences department stated that “whenever muscles are used they become damaged to some degree….what our study showed is that the recovery of normal muscle tissue was accelerated when white or red wine was added to the normal recovery-massage process”.The experts that carried out the study have suggested that the alcohol in the wine is partly responsible for this effect, as it allows the muscles to relax even more than normal by desensitising nerve endings. This relaxation then allows a vaso-dilation of the blood vessels that surround muscle tissue and means more healing nutrients can get to the damaged tissue.Interestingly, other alcoholic substances have been tested and do not display the same positive results, suggesting there might be something else found in wine that acts as a catalyst.
You probably won’t find that there is a rush in wine rack sales from health spas around the country, but maybe they will invest in some slow wine pourers just to give it a go.