Writing in GQ about the phenomena, Dr Kien Vuu, the author of Thrive State, said that it wasn’t necessarily due to the health benefits of wine, but was due to the socialisation that comes “hand-in-hand with imbibing now and then”.
He argued that we should say ‘Yes to Happy Hour’, and a glass of wine was critical to health when consumed in a social setting, as it was in the so-called Blue Zones, which comprises of the Barbagia region of Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, and Icaria in Greece.
These areas are the places in the world which have the highest life expectancy with the most centenarians, and numerous books and studies have been written about the ‘zones’ in an attempt for their health secrets to be replicated elsewhere.
Vuu said: “In longevity cultures, moderate alcohol consumption often occurs in a social context, emphasising the role of community and celebration.
“Positive relationships contribute to mental and emotional well-being.”
Roseto study
The concept was also highlighted in author Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers which featured the town of Roseto in Pennsylvania which was made up from immigrants from the same town of Roseto Valfortore that lies one hundred miles southeast of Rome, in the Apennine foothills of the Italian province of Foggia.
According to Gladwell, a local doctor called Stewart Wolf who discovered that the secret to the long life of Rosetans was due to the communal aspect of their lives. In terms of health, many were obese and smoked, and had similar dietary profiles to other Americans, albeit more skewed towards the staples of Italian cuisine, such as pizza and pasta.
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