Step away from the green juice! It really is time to drink champagne and dance on the table!
F Scott Fitzgerald once wrote; “too much of anything is bad, but too much champagne is just right.” Well, the Great Gatsby author could now be proven right. Scientists have discovered that drinking THREE glasses of champagne a week can help to prevent the onset of Dementia and Alzheimers.
It is because of a compound found in Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, the specific black grapes used to make champagne. It is believed it has properties that can ward off degenerative brain disease and increase spatial memory. Red wine, if consumed modestly, has been found to help lower blood pressure and protect the heart. This is due to the compound chemicals in vines known as flavonoids.
The memory aid found in champagne, however, is a different compound, phenolic acid. Professor Jeremy Spencer carried out the experiment at Reading University using rats. He told the Mail on Sunday that the results were “very dramatic.” He gave the rats champagne every day for six weeks and asked them to complete a maze. Those rats that didn’t drink champagne had a success rate of completing the maze of 50 per cent. But those who drank bubbly had a success rate of 70 per cent. He said;
“This research is exciting because it illustrates for the first time that moderate consumption of champagne has the potential to influence cognitive functioning such as memory.”
Dr Spencer now hopes to move on to trials involving pensioners. The human trial will involve getting 50 pensioners to drink champagne for three years in order to test its effects. Presumably, he will not lack for volunteers. He continued:
“We do encourage a responsible approach to alcohol consumption, and our results suggest that a very low intake of a few glasses a week can be effective.”
You can also take solace in the fact that champagne has fewer calories than other wines and cocktails per glass.
We’ll drink to that!
