{"id":1940,"date":"2014-07-21T13:12:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-21T17:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/wine-for-doctors-over-lunch-and-why-this-makes-perfect-sense.html"},"modified":"2016-09-19T11:23:27","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T15:23:27","slug":"wine-for-doctors-over-lunch-and-why-this-makes-perfect-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1940","title":{"rendered":"Wine. For Doctors. Over Lunch … and why this makes perfect sense"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow @willclower<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
When I lived in France, doing research on the brain, I ate in the neurological hospital every afternoon. When you eat in the neurological hospital, with all its doctors, here\u2019s what you do. You start by getting your plastic tray, on which you build an amazing lunch: your crunchy half-baguette, maybe a little fresh fish in a wine sauce, some herbed veggies, spiced couscous, a piece of cheese or fruit, and two empty glasses.<\/span><\/div>\n
After you pay, you have a few options for filling your empty glasses. There\u2019s water, soda, juice, and a cask of red wine. A cask. With a tap.<\/em> I don\u2019t know how to say this differently: free refills \u2026 on the wine \u2026 for the doctors \u2026 over lunch!<\/span><\/div>\n
This is enough to tip the Baptist brain right off the pier. (Note to self: schedule any surgeries for the morning.) But what was interesting about all this was that I never saw anyone go back for seconds \u2014 and I was watching. I never saw anyone get sloppy, either.<\/span><\/div>\n
In French culture, wine is considered to be a food. And, if you\u2019re having food<\/em> for lunch, why not have wine to go with it? After all, it\u2019s a food, too.<\/span><\/div>\n
By contrast, in the U.S., we don’t see wine as a food, but rather as the sum of its pharmacological properties. It’s as an intoxicant, laced with resveratrol, antioxidants, tannins, and other bioactive chemicals. That\u2019s why, from an American viewpoint, it makes no sense to have an intoxicant in the middle of the day. Why in the world would you drug-up on an intoxicant and then expect to go back to work? What employer would allow that? The very idea is insane.<\/span><\/div>\n
What\u2019s cool about this little inter-cultural comparison is that \u201cwine over lunch\u201d is both obviously correct AND it’s obviously stupid, all at the same time. The only thing that flips the switch from smart to stupid, from right to wrong, is our cultural assumption about wine.<\/span><\/div>\n
Think about it. If your culture teaches you to assume that wine is a food, then having a glass with lunch will make sense to you. Conversely, if your culture teaches you to assume that wine is a drug, then the very same act performed in the very same way will suddenly seem absurd.<\/span><\/div>\n
Either way, you think you\u2019re making a rational choice, but are silently influenced by your culture. But supposing that wine is just the sum of its chemical properties is like saying a kiss is just two people mashing lips.<\/span><\/div>\n
It\u2019s time to unplug from our reductionist thinking about food, including wine. To do this, start by becoming a more sensual consumer and treat wine is the food it is, rather than a bunch of inert molecules swimming in a glass.<\/span><\/div>\n
Focus on the experience: the aroma, the way its flavors marry with the food on your palate. When you do this, you enjoy it more, taste it more and, yes, are more likely to consume it in control.<\/span><\/div>\n

For more information: Click here to visit Will Clower’s website. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow @willclower When I lived in France, doing research on the brain, I ate in the neurological hospital every afternoon. When you eat in the neurological hospital, with all its … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-vi","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2511,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2511","url_meta":{"origin":1940,"position":0},"title":"Here's The ProblemMillions of people\u2026","author":"Will Clower","date":"September 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's The ProblemMillions of people - including a substantial number of the \"worried well\" - take a daily dose of the drug in the belief it will keep them healthy.But at a conference for leading doctors, British scientists said they have found that for healthy people taking aspirin does not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2106,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2106","url_meta":{"origin":1940,"position":1},"title":"Don’t Forget To Remember The New Alzheimers Definitions: CNN","author":"Will Clower","date":"April 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"3 stages of Alzheimer's disease introduced: CNN\u00a0Alzheimer's disease begins long before family and friends notice differences in the patient's memory and behavior, doctors who treat the condition said Monday. By the time an official diagnosis is made, the person's function is usually significantly impaired and treatment rarely helps.Doctors are suggesting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-iFfpyOC7Qy0\/TbwUKUOxHJI\/AAAAAAAADD0\/J0tyVfBgPlc\/s320\/alzheimers.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6997,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=6997","url_meta":{"origin":1940,"position":2},"title":"The French, Their Wine, and Cancer. An Interview with Will Clower","author":"Will Clower","date":"April 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Telegraph of London asked me to comment on the recent kerfuffle on the French, their wine, and cancer. Below is the article. Please let me know your thoughts! ______________ When Dr Will Clower moved from his native Alabama to work at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences in Lyon, France,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/red-wine.jpg?fit=640%2C455&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/red-wine.jpg?fit=640%2C455&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/red-wine.jpg?fit=640%2C455&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2490,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2490","url_meta":{"origin":1940,"position":3},"title":"MSG Excitotoxin for your brain?","author":"Will Clower","date":"October 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"MSG. Is it bad .... what does it do? Is it frustrating our efforts to control our weight? I read this article this morning, and wanted to pass it along. It implicates MSG in neurological problems like epilepsy, Parkinson's Disease, etc. Here's the bottom line. It's important to think about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2077,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2077","url_meta":{"origin":1940,"position":4},"title":"Doctors Tell Doctors Not To Be So Pill Happy","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"U.S. doctors are too quick to reach for their prescription pads, according to a new report urging them to think more about side effects and non-drug alternatives.\"Instead of the latest and greatest, we want fewer and more time-tested drugs,\" said Dr. Gordon Schiff, associate director of the Center for Patient\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-1Xsn6P1ym70\/TfaCv9KL0JI\/AAAAAAAADJA\/mSvrJF9ns9k\/s320\/Prescription.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2777,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2777","url_meta":{"origin":1940,"position":5},"title":"Wine and the Liver","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Is wine good for you or bad for you?The answer is that it is neighter good for you nor bad for you. 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