Put Down The Guinness

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Mar 13, 2006 3:25PM

So a few of us Chicagoist-os and Chicagoist-as made our way down to Cork and Kerry Friday night ahead of the mass of humanity that invaded the wunnerful Beverly/Morgan Park area yesterday (we sincerely hope your property values were unharmed, by the way) and enjoyed a few pints of Smithwick's, Guinness, and just a couple shots of Michael Collns whiskey. The last thing on our mind was having a glass of wine.

It turns out that maybe we should have. Canadian scientists recently discovered that drinking red wine can stave off gum disease. It does so by releasing antioxidants called polyphenols that counter the effect of gum disease-causing free radicals and bacteria in the mouth. Polyphenols can also be found in fresh fruits and other juices like cranberry juice, so if you're a teetotaler, don't fret. If you don't like wine - and because we like to poke fun at the Irish whenever we can - we offer you this beautiful shot of Shane MacGowan's "summer teeth" as exhibit "a" for not just enjoying a glass of wine, but good overall dental hygiene.