Originally posted by Dr. Davis on 2016-12-13
on the Wheat Belly Blog,
sourced from and currently found at: Infinite Health Blog.
PCM forum Index
of WB Blog articles.
How
about a Glass of Wine?
Having a glass or two
of wine, brandy, or a cocktail is perfectly in line with
the grain-free lifestyle, but you must be selective.
The price of a poor choice can be reigniting an autoimmune
condition, provoking high blood sugar, triggering an
inappropriate emotional outburst that ruins your evening,
or regaining those undesired pounds. The reward for choosing
wisely can be a wonderful time spent with friends without
such problems. Do recognize that any amount of
wine, cocktails, or beer can stall weight loss.
Navigating alcoholic beverages
can be hazardous, as many are brewed from grains.
Wine
is the safest choice in alcoholic beverages by a wide
margin. – Tweet this!
Wine is as close to a perfect wheat,
grain, and gluten-free beverage as it gets, regardless of
varietal or vintage. If you consider the probable health
effects that can be derived from light wine drinking (no
more than two 4-ounce glasses per day), wine is proving
to be both pleasurable and healthy.

The clear majority
of wines are made without exposure to anything wheat, grain,
or gluten. There is one rare exception: Because
of a push to get away from animal-derived clarifying agents,
such as gelatin derived from cows (due to bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, or mad cow disease), winemakers have sought
non-animal sources of clarifying agents. Clarifying agents
are used to make wines clearer and more appealing to the
consumer. Clarification removes residual grape skin, seeds,
or stem debris; dead yeast cells; and various proteins. Among
the most popular clarifying agent choices are bentonite,
potassium sorbate, and sodium benzoate. However,
some winemakers have lately turned to gluten or deamidated
gluten for wine clarification. Thankfully,
this remains an uncommon practice. I believe it will
become less common as an increasingly number of us raise
a stink about grain/gluten exposure in ANY food.

Here
is one such study.
Obviously, if you consume a rare
rogue wine that provokes a gluten response, don’t drink it
again; be sure to tell the winemaker about it. Also, be
sure tell us about it on the Wheat Belly Blog or
the Official
Wheat Belly Facebook page.
The overwhelming majority
of wines are wheat, grain, and gluten-free safe choices for
alcoholic beverages. Whether you choose a
chardonnay, pinot grigio, viognier, vinho verde, merlot,
cabernet sauvignon, garnacha, malbec, rioja . . .
or any of the other wines produced from other varietals and
blends you can do so knowing you are safe. More
so than any other class of alcoholic beverage, wines are
therefore our first choice.
Enjoy your holiday toast
with family and friends with a glass of wine!
– Tweet this!
Yours in grainless health,
Dr. William Davis
