Skip the Flu Shot, Drink Wine

It’s getting to be that time of year again, time for fever, chills, headaches, stomach upset, and general feeling like crap, aka, the flu.

You could get a flu shot, load up on Vitamin C or encase yourself in bubble wrap, hide under your bed and not come out until springtime. Or, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, you could drink more wine.

Yes, along with the benefits of consuming moderate amounts of fermented grape juice like reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, cataracts and stroke, wine can also help your immune system resist the flu and, if you get it anyway, help reduce the severity of its symptoms.

It’s all about things called flavonoids, which are metabolites derived from plants that act as antioxidants. Wine has lots of them, and when these flavonoids interact with the microbes in our digestive tracts, the result can jack up the body’s immune system to fight off infections, or in this case, the flu.

Now, the university’s study was conducted only on mice, not on people. But those results were pretty impressive. And, really, would you rather have somebody stick a needle in your arm of sip a glass of good Cabernet? In medical terms, that’s called a “no-brainer.”