We are still in the middle of a serious battle with COVID19. On the plus side you got a ‘shot’ at shots, though that has been kind of a mess so far. You also have a lot more information about what to do to take care of yourself than you did a year ago. It also seems that there is a bit more optimism out there. Ultimately we must all fight the fight.
While we don’t take any of this lightly, something did come our way the other day that kind of put a smile on our faces. Something new that can be added to you anti-covid regimen based on a recent study in Taiwan. Now we swear we didn’t make any of this up though the findings do seem to put a bit of ammunition in the hands of wine merchants. No, we aren’t talking about injecting cleaning solution or any such thing. But the study seems to indicate that the ‘Rona doesn’t like tannin.
Now we aren’t medical types and aren’t armed with the jargon to offer a complete scientific explanation. But the gist of the results is that tannic acid found in grapes, bananas, persimmons, tea leaves and, of course, red wine did a couple of things to combat Cornona Virus. We quote Hung Mien-chie, China Medical University president, ” We discovered that tannic acid can inhibit the coronavirus in two ways. One is it can prevent it from entering cells and inhibit its reproduction. It can also inhibit proteases in the human body. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.”
We aren’t saying that red wine can wipe out the disease. But there appears to be medical evidence that red wine, like any other immune system booster, can create a less desirable environment for the virus’ development. Amen to that. The only caveat to the finding was mentioned at the end of the piece. They could not specifically determine exactly how much tannin it took to have the desired effect. We don’t know either but we’re making sure we don’t shortchange ourselves!
Now we aren’t suggesting that having a few glasses of Cabernet will give you the blanket immunity to go out to a sports bar, political rally, rock concert, or any of the other things that are highly restricted. But it certainly can’t hurt.
As a public service, we are reminding folks of some simple facts. Tannins in wine can come from wine skins and oak barrels. The highest tannin levels are in grapes like Tannat (see Madiran) and Sagrantino (mostly grown in Umbria). There’s a good bit of tannins in any young red, however, so there are many options you can employ to keep those tannin levels up. Sure you could eat a lot of persimmons or bananas, but we think the red wine method is a bit more fun and can work into one’s lifestyle a little more seamlessly. Then again we are a little biased.
Stay safe out there. Watch the video