 Whenever people find out that they can drink wine on the plant paradox, they get excited. And I get it. I mean, how many health plans out there include even the occasional glass of wine. So when people come to me excited that they can enjoy wine with the plant paradox, I always feel a little bad raining on their parade. You see, it's important to understand, even if certain polyphenol-rich wines are great for your health, in moderation of course, not all wines are created equal. And depending on your taste, some of your favorites may actually be on the no list. So if you choose to drink wine after phase one, it's important to know what to enjoy and what to avoid. But before we can even get into that, let me be clear. You are not required to drink wine on the plant paradox plan. If you choose not to drink alcohol, that's an equally valid and healthy choice. And if you don't typically drink wine, talk to your doctor before starting. And if you do choose to drink wine, remember you shouldn't be knocking back a bottle each night. At most, enjoy a single six ounce glass each day. That's about this much. When clear, there are four six ounce glasses in a bottle of wine. So this by yourself should last you four days. If you have a spouse or a special friend, it should last you two days. That's a perfect rule. If it's not making it that long, you're drinking too much. Or you don't have to have it every day. Save it for special occasions. Do it on the weekends. Skip it during the week or skip it entirely. It's your choice. So let's say you're in the mood for a glass of wine, you head to the store and suddenly you're overwhelmed by all the choices on the shelves. Wines from all over the country, all over the world even. Dry, sweet, fruity, red, white, bubbly. The possibilities are literally endless. So first of all, eliminate some of the possibilities, starting with dessert wines. They're higher in sugar, which counteracts the health benefits. So if you pick up a bottle labeled sweet wine or dessert wine, just put it back down. The same goes for ice wine, muscato, sweet lembrusco, vincento, or sauterns. Some of the most common kinds of sweet wines out there. So make sure to skip fortified wines like sherry, port, and mudera. Same reason. Now, next I suggest eliminating white wines, at least for the most part. Yes, even if they're dry, it's not that white wine is inherently bad for you. But it doesn't have the same polyphenol content as red wine. The polyphenols give wine its color after all. And those polyphenols are a huge part of the reason I'm okay with drinking red wine. With one exception. More on that in a moment. So if you've eliminated all the dessert wines and the white wines, can you just grab any bottle of red? Well, you could. And at this point, it's not the end of the world if you do. But as you know, I'm always here to look out for you. And there's one kind of wine that's a cut above the rest. Because it's literally grown above the rest. I'm talking about high-altitude wines. Wines made from grapes grown way up in the mountains. Because it turns out that the place grapes are grown can have a huge impact on their nutritional content. And that carries over to the nutritional content of the wine you're drinking. You see, high-altitude grapes grow closer to the sun. So they end up with more robust systems to protect them from sun damage, including plenty of powerful health-boosting polyphenols. And when wine is made, especially red wine, which is pressed with the nutrient-rich skins, all those nutrients are passed to you. Plus, grapes grown at higher altitudes are actually lower in sugar. So the wine you drink isn't fueling those bad gut bugs. So how do you know if you picked a bottle that was grown in high-altitude? Well, luckily, high-altitude wines are becoming a bit of a thing. So it may actually say high-altitude on the label. If not, look for red wines grown in the Mendoza region of Argentina, like these two here. They're actually very reasonably priced. It's very cheap to produce wine in Argentina. Look for parts of northern Italy near the peak Italian border, near Switzerland. Swiss wines and some Austrian wines are high vineyards as well as the Malpo Valley in Chile. High-altitude vineyards are what you want to seek out. Now, don't worry. All high-altitude wines are not high-priced tags. Believe it or not, there's a lot of mulbux available for $10, and certainly great ones under 20 bucks. Incredible high-rated wines from Argentina. Like these two are actually really good. So if you'd like, and your doctor is okay with it, go ahead and toast your health with the occasional glass of high-altitude red. Or if you want to make an exception to the red wine rule only, champagne. Or another dry sparkling wine with a catch. It needs to be true sparkling wine made in the style of champagne. That means instead of having CO2 pumped in to create bubbles, it's double-fermented, kind of like kombucha, to deliver tiny bubbles and that signature fizz. It can be true champagne made in the Champagne region of France, Cava made in Spain, Prosecco made in Italy, or sparkling wine. Just as long as it's double-fermented. How can you make sure you're getting the right stuff? Well, it should say so right on the label. Look for key words like method, champagne, was, method, tradition, now, or even traditional method. To keep the sugar down, look for wines that are labeled brute, extra brute, or best of all, brute nature. Then, raise a glass to your tasting good health. Just remember, don't go overboard. No more than a single six ounce glass a day, please. Why? Because I'm Dr. Gundry, and I'm always looking out for you and a glass of Malbec once a day.