a friendly message from the makers of welch's grape juice

the new yorker's got another smashing satirical piece, written by noah baumbach (writer/director of the squid and the whale, among others). it's absurdly funny, but also raises an excellent question: why are there so many articles on the health benefits of red wine? and why isn't white wine getting any love?

apparently, it's because white wine actually doesn't have red wine's miraculous qualities. resveratrol, the compound responsible for the bulk of the aforementioned health benefits, exists in large quantities in the skins and seeds of dark red or purple colored grapes. as the mayo clinic's cardiology department rather meekly and sweetly points out, this means that grape juice probably confers the same protections as red wine. so really, the panacea being touted may be any product rich in dark grape skins--and not just red wine.

but you can't blame news outlets for going with the sexiest possible headline, can you? and if you've got the chance to get a lab full of mice hammered, why not take it?