According to a recent study the type of alcohol you consume may determine how hungry you feel afterwards. In other words, the intensity of your “munchies” is different for wine, beer or spirits.

A recent study shows that while alcohol has a specific effect on the body, the additional nutritional content of white wine, red wine and beer also affects how our body responds to alcohol.

Research psychologist and lead author Dr Anna Kokavec, says to understand the effect of different alcoholic beverages her team measured the influence they have on the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis.

The HPA axis regulates fluctuations in the body, and is responsible for the synthesis of the steroid hormones cortisol and dehyrdoepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), says Kokavec.

“The HPA axis is a system that has an input into nearly everything in the body.”

Kokavec says DHEAS and cortisol, commonly known as a stress hormone, influence our appetite and are associated with learning and memory formation.

“We need a sufficient release of cortisol to make us feel hungry,” she says

According to the study both hormones are affected when we drink alcohol, and that low levels “could lead to specific cognitive impairment if alcohol is consumed on a regular basis.”

Fluctuating levels

The researchers divided participants into four groups. Each drank either red wine, white wine, light beer or regular beer.

Kokavec says the levels of cortisol decreased in all participants upon consuming alcohol. This reduced their desire for food, despite having fasted for half a day.

“One of the biggest problems we have with alcohol is that appetite is reduced, and most alcoholics present with malnutrition,” she says.

But Kokavec was surprised to find that DHEAS levels fluctuated, depending on what type of alcohol the participant consumed.

In the participants who drank beer the levels of DHEAS initially dropped, but then went up.

According to Kokavec, this is because beer contains carbohydrates, which increases the level of insulin in the blood.

She says insulin has an antagonistic relationship with DHEAS – as insulin increases so does DHEAS. The result is an eventual increase in hunger.

“Beer completely confuses the system.”

Kokavec says red wine has a slightly different effect on the body.

“Red wine fools the body into thinking it’s eating, so cortisol and DHEAS levels go down.”

But she says the body starts to recognise that red wine isn’t a food and DHEAS and cortisol levels rise, increasing appetite.

Kokavec says, unlike beer and red wine, white wine completely shuts down the HPA axis, meaning DHEAS levels don’t recover and hunger remains low.

When pairing wine and cheese, you want a wine that’s going to complement the flavours of the cheese and not overpower it – and vice versa. You wouldn’t drink a really light wine with a strong-tasting cheese, or a mild cheese with a full-bodied, robust wine.

There’s a general rule of thumb to follow: the stronger the cheese is, move up the spectrum of the body of wine.

Mild, hard cheeses such as cheddar are best paired with Gamet Noir, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, unwooded Chardonnays or Cabernet Francs. While stronger hard cheeses such as aged Gouda or Asiago go best with a full-bodied Shiraz, Zinfandel or Bordeaux blends.

Aromatic wines such as Riesling and Gewurztraminer are great with soft cheeses like brie and Camembert; while a Sauvignon Blanc and Rose are classic pairings for goat cheese.

When it comes to blue cheeses, you want to pick an ice wine, late harvest wine or port. Going for higher sugar content will smooth out the edges of a strong blue cheese

Food and wine pairing is much simpler than you think. The main rules are to enjoy yourself and that the food and wine must both taste great on their own. If you remember this and follow these guideline food and wine matching will be a breeze.

There are no rules
The first and most important rule. There are no rules that work for every situation and every person so relax and don’t waste your time worrying about breaking them.

As long as you and your guests are having fun then your food and wine matching has been a success, regardless of what the traditional rules would have us believe.

The food and wine must both taste great on their own
This is the second rule which and can be seen as the rule of thumb for wine matching. You can’t expect for a juicy steak to improve the taste of a bad wine. The same goes for the food, if it’s not going to taste any good on its own, it is very unlikely that your wine match, no matter how delicious, is going to make the food taste better.

Match wine with people first
Just as some people always have and always will hate anchovies, some people just don’t enjoy certain styles of wine, regardless of the quality of the vino. Sometimes this may be based on a bad experience with a poor quality example, and if the person in question did actually try a decent Sauvignon Blanc they may find that they love it. But forcing people to try new things may do more harm than good.

Respect that everyone’s palate is different. Think about your guests and their wine preferences first and think about the food matching second.

Weight is important
Lighter, more delicately flavored food generally works best with lighter style wines. Heavy tannic reds tend to be best with more robust meaty dishes but of course there will always be times when a light wine could team marvelously with a heavy rich dish

Wine and food can contrast one another
Contrast is something that we personally love to play with. Using a light acidic wine like a Sauvignon Blanc to cut through the oiliness of fried fish and chips is always a winner. Unless of course you’re with someone who hates acidic wine (see rule ii).

Wine and food can compliment each other
Sometimes finding flavor similarities can result in a harmonious food and wine matching experience. The earthiness of mushrooms in a mushroom risotto can work a treat with a funky earthy Pinot Noir. A fresh, minty Cabernet Sauvignon to compliment classic roast lamb with mint sauce can also be a flavor explosion.

Trust your own instincts.
Like most things in life, if it feels like it’s a bit dodgy and it isn’t going to work then you’re probably on the right track.

It isn’t the end of the world if the food and wine are more at the divorce end of the relationship spectrum as long as you follow rule number three, you’ll be able to enjoy each on their own. A judicious sip of palate cleansing water in between mouthfuls can make all the difference.

Red meat; red wine, white meat and fish; white wine. That’s the rule on food and wine matching, isn’t it? Not for the more adventurous – and confident – among us.

Although the before mentioned approach does sit true in many situations, it is vital to not only consider the colour of the wine but also the balance of flavours and textures when combined with what you are about to eat.

Be brave, experiment and don’t be afraid to get it wrong. Before you invite VIP guests round, that is.

When throwing a dinner party it’s worth considering which wine to serve with each course rather than scrambling around your rack, fridge or floor for the nearest bottle to uncork/screw.

You know when you have got it right because it feels right, simple as that. Average food can be lifted considerably when paired with a perfectly matched wine. Good food, however, can also be crushed.

The crisp and tropical Douglas Green Chenin Blanc 2008 should match up well to creamy dishes or salads, while the smooth and fragrant Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay 2007 stands proud next to a soft cheese course.

According to recent research ,  British women choose and buy eight out of every 10 bottles of wine that are drunk at home. The study also found that  a third of British women who enjoy wine as a treat at the end of the day admit that they prefer to drink it alone – in the bath.

The data, the result of industry research among more than 1,300 British women aged between 18 and 60, overturns common perceptions that men take the lead in wine buying, and reveals that in many cases women are far more influential.

Six out of 10 women in Britain said they drank wine at least once a week. And the same proportion said they preferred red wine to white or rosé.

Most women said they enjoyed drinking wine because they liked the taste (80%) and because it went well with food (70%). But despite appearing knowledgeable about wine, the majority choose to ignore its health risks. More than half see it as a “healthier” alternative to other alcoholic drinks such as beer and spirits, while the same proportion said they were not deterred by the government’s health warnings.

When it comes to choosing wines, women said they were driven mainly by price (74%), followed by the type of grape (64%), the country of origin (55%) and more superficial trappings such as the label (42%). Six out of 10 (61%) said they chose wine on their own, with women in the UK noticeably more independent in their choice than their peers elsewhere in the world.

These study results will probably be much the same for the South African market as grocers become more significant wine retailers .

A glass or two of red wine may increase a woman’s libido, a scientific study has found.

Researchers concluded that levels of sexual desire were higher in women who were moderate drinkers of red wine than in their counterparts who preferred other alcoholic drinks, or were teetotal.

One theory put forward by the team of Italian doctors who carried out the study is that chemical compounds found in red wine may improve sexual functioning by increasing blood flow to key areas of the body.

Cabernet and chocolate are potent medicine for killing cancer, according to recent American research.

Red grapes and dark chocolate join blueberries, garlic, soy, and teas as ingredients that starve cancer while feeding bodies.

This according to the  Angiogenesis Foundation head William Li.

“We are rating foods based on their cancer-fighting qualities,” Li said. “What we eat is really our chemotherapy three times a day.”

The Massachusetts-based foundation is identifying foods containing chemicals that evidently choke-off blood supplies to tumours, starving them to death.

Li cited a Harvard Medical School study showing that men who ate cooked tomatoes several times weekly were 30% to 50% less likely to have prostate cancer.

“There is a medical revolution happening all around us,” Li said. “If we’re right, it could impact on consumer education, food service, public health, and even insurance agencies.”

Deprive tumours

About a dozen drugs are already in use to deprive tumours of blood supplies in a treatment tactic called “anti-angiogenesis”.

The foundation pitted some foods against approved drugs and found that soy, parsley, red grapes, berries and other edibles were either as effective or more potent in battling cancer cells.

Eaten together, the foods were even more effective in fighting cancer.

“We discovered that Mother Nature laced a large number of foods and herbs with anti-angiogenesis features,” Li said.

“For many people around the world, dietary cancer treatment may be the only solution because not everyone can afford cancer drugs.”

The foundation also discovered that anti-angiogenesis properties of foods melt away fat, which relies heavily on blood flow to sustain itself.

A recent study found that: Women of normal weight who drank a moderate amount of alcohol — especially red wine — were less likely to gain weight than women who didn’t drink at all.

The researchers caution that alcohol can have harmful effects, but weight gain among light drinkers may not be one of them.

Scientists have long noted the apparently beneficial association of red wine with good heart health among French people who ate rich diets, called the French paradox, but there have been conflicting reports on alcohol and weight gain.

Dr. Lu Wang of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and her colleagues followed almost 20,000 healthy women age 38 or older who answered questions annually about their weight and alcohol consumption. After almost 13 years, 41 percent of the women became overweight and 4 percent became obese. Women who did not drink gained the most weight. The amount of weight gained slid lower as the amount of alcohol consumed climbed.

Compared with nondrinkers, women who drank 15 grams to 29 grams of alcohol a day — the amount found in one to two drinks — had a 30 percent lower risk of becoming overweight, with red wine accounting for the strongest association. The risk of becoming overweight did not go down further when the women drank more than 40 grams of alcohol a day.

BOTTOM LINE: Middle-aged women of normal weight who were light drinkers gained less weight than nondrinkers after 13 years.

CAUTIONS: The study did not show that drinking caused the decline in weight gain, and the findings do not apply to men. Unknown differences between women who drink moderately and those who don’t could explain the findings, even though the researchers tried to account for other factors.

If you love a glass of wine with dinner, you’ll be happy to know that you may actually be helping your brain as you are treating your taste buds to a good time. Tammy from Celebrate Wine pointed out this new study that was reported in Wine Spectator:

A new study, conducted by scientists from the Department of Geriatrics at the University of Bari, in Bari, Italy, found that a drink or two per day may help slow the development of dementia. The research, published in the May 22 issue of the journal Neurology, may provide hope for those at risk of dementia and diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the transitional stage between normal brain function and full-blown, irreversible cognitive impairments, such as Alzheimer’s.

However, this doesn’t mean you should run out and develop a two glass a day habit. The researcher also mentions that the study may be flawed by the fact that most people who drink a glass or two of wine a day are also usually active and involved in new things. The benefits of drinking wine in the study may actually be because the study participants were not couch potatoes. So, if you do drink those two glasses, make sure you are stretching your mind and getting exercise, too.

So, you’re having a dinner party and you don’t know what kind of wine to serve with your main course. Well the truth is, nowadays, you can serve whatever type of wine you like with whatever your course may be.

The old adage of Red Wine with Red Meats, White Wine with White Meats is a bit passé in today’s society. Still, clichés exist for a reason, and the reason (in very basic terms), is this:

Red Wine: Because of the richer tannins and rolling flavors found in red wine, the flavor and feel of le vin rouge tends to be more overpowering. When eaten with other rich flavors such as a creamy cheddar cheese or a juicy steak, the tannins in the wine actually bind to the proteins in your food, thereby leaving your tongue less susceptible to the astringent, drying sensation that red wine often provides. Additionally, the rich flavors complement nicely with the strong, rich tastes found in your steak or cheese and the two work in harmony together.

White Wine: White wine tends to be crisper, lighter, higher in acidity but much lower in tannins (if any). Because of this, white wine tends to go nicely with milder dishes such as poached seafood or raw oysters. The crisp, light flavors do not overpower the subtle flavors of the food and provide a pleasant, refreshing accompaniment with them.

So which to choose? Really, any you like. While the above paragraphs demonstrate the reason behind the adage, there is no reason why you can’t try a rich, red wine with raw oysters or a crisp Chardonnay with you veal parmesan. In fact, I enjoy matching apparent opposites such as this. The flavors and contrasts are fun to experiment with.

Plus, if you’re like me, sometimes you just prefer a red over a white (or vice versa), no matter what you’re eating.

Bottom line? Red or White is really up to you and it is an acceptable practice in our modern age to drink whichever with whatever foods. In my experience, the folks that speak condescendingly about “You’re supposed to drink red wine with that….” usually don’t know much about wine in the first place and are just spouting out what they’ve heard from everyone else.