{"id":50595,"date":"2016-06-29T07:15:12","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T11:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=50595"},"modified":"2022-01-20T06:49:30","modified_gmt":"2022-01-20T11:49:30","slug":"gik-blue-wine-health-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/gik-blue-wine-health-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Blue Wine, and Does It Have Health Benefits?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"What
Photo Courtesy of Gik<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Move over ros<\/em>\u00e9<\/em> and vinho verde<\/em>, and make way for a wine that\u2019s\u2026electric blue<\/a>. By now you may have heard that blue wine is the latest thing you can imbibe. Created by Spanish winemaker Gik<\/a>, the electric-hued wine is being marketed as a fun alternative to snooty wine culture. But while we\u2019re all for a good time, we couldn\u2019t help but wonder if candy-colored vino could be as healthy as traditional pours<\/a>. So we got in touch with the company and a nutrition expert to review the fine print.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in the Bottle?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Gik declined to provide a full ingredient list or information on nutritional content, but according to co-founder Aritz L\u00f3pez, the indigo-hued wine is \u201can absolutely healthy beverage, made 100 percent out of grapes and contains\u00a0non-caloric sweeteners<\/a>, sulfites and two organic pigments. We decided to use those non-caloric sweeteners to change its flavor instead of sugar because it was the healthiest alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>White Sangria Recipe with Strawberries<\/a><\/p>\n

The type of sweeteners<\/a> in the wine varies according to each country\u2019s regulations, but L\u00f3pez says Stevia and sucralose have been used so far. Non-nutritive sweeteners are \u201cgenerally recognized as safe,\u201d according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, research suggests that sweeteners in large quantities may disrupt the body\u2019s ability to regulate blood sugar<\/a>. And some experts believe<\/a> that because they are hundreds to thousands of times sweeter<\/a> than table sugar, artificial sweeteners may prompt you to seek out sweeter foods over time.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>35 Sneaky Nicknames for Sugar You Need to Know<\/a><\/p>\n

The juice itself is made from a blend of a variety\u00a0of red and white grapes. It gets its color from anthocyanin, a pigment derived from the skin of red grapes, and indigo carmine, a blue dye derived from the Isatis tinctoria plant.<\/p>\n

Blue Wine, Uncorked\u00a0Health Benefits?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to Jim White, RD, owner of Jim White Fitness and Nutrition Studios<\/a> in Virginia, the dyes used are not only safe, they could have some health benefits, too. Anythocyanin is a member of the flavonoid group of phytochemicals, which have been found to have antioxidant capabilities, he says. They may also help protect against inflammation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t act alone, though, in their protective benefits,\u201d says White. \u201cMore research needs to be done because scientists don\u2019t understand all of its capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Can Wine Before Bed Really Help You Lose Weight?<\/a><\/p>\n

As for the indigo dye, it\u2019s considered a natural form of the color, says White. \u201cMost natural biocolorants<\/a> possess antagonistic activity to certain bacteria, viruses and fungi, protecting the food from microbial spoilage.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what about those heart-healthy benefits of red wine? The jury\u2019s still out on blue wine\u2019s ability to protect your ticker. Heart health claims stem from red wine containing resveratrol, a natural antioxidant that should also be present in Gik wine since the blend is made from both white and red grapes, says White. But because all the ingredients aren\u2019t disclosed, he\u2019s hesitant to make a judgment call about the bevvie\u2019s overall health properties.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, it seems safe enough to enjoy electric blue wine as you would red, white and other wines: in moderation. And remember that because the blue wine uses non-caloric sweeteners, you may be tempted to reach for other sweets.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still itching to try a bottle of the blue<\/a>, the wine is currently available in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands. It\u2019s also available for pre-order in the U.S., but no word on a ship date just yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to winemaker Gik, electric blue wine, which gets its hue from red grapes and a flowering plant, is about to make a splash. But what’s in the bottle?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7],"tags":[28,31,44,51,71,341,380],"class_list":["post-50595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","tag-alcohol","tag-beverages","tag-drinks","tag-food-choices","tag-nutrition","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2diet-advice"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}