Drink a little grape juice for thy body's sake

Taking communion, it turns out, may provide more than spiritual well-being for churchgoers. It could have major benefits for their physical health as well.

Studies in recent years have indicated that a couple of glasses of red wine each day reduced the chance of heart attacks. That's fine for those who want to drink alcohol, but not everybody wants to.

Now, the merits of a nonalcoholic drink look even better.

Last week, Dr. John Folts of the University of Wisconsin Medical School released research findings that show grape juice - the ordinary, unfermented kind - has a significant effect in slowing the tendency of blood platelets to clot. Because clotting is a big contributor to heart attacks, drinking real grape juice, as opposed to just grape "drinks," thus promises to become a major health fad.

In fact, purple grape juice was shown to be an even more effective anti-clotting agent than red wine or aspirin, which has also been promoted as good medicine for the heart. Plus, grape juice can be taken without risking the side effects some people experience from aspirin - or from a bit too much wine.

Scientists aren't sure exactly how, but substances in the grape juice called flavonoids apparently react with the platelets to inhibit their clotting potential. Of course, scientists point out that drinking too much grape juice might therefore increase a person's tendency to bleed too freely, and so moderate consumption is advised. And health experts are quick to add that grape juice alone will not guarantee a healthy life, which still requires a balanced diet and proper exercise.

But it looks as though the Apostle Paul knew what he was talking about when he touted the health benefits of drinking a "little wine," including the unfermented kind.