Natural vs organic wine and mead

Natural vs organic wine and mead concerns how the fruit was grown, if any honey used was heated and whether they have been pasteurised.

Slowly the message is getting through. Whether our lives are going to be frequently touched by disease, pain and disability is mostly to do with lifestyle; and an early death too, of course. What we eat and how we exercise are paramount. But what about the liquids we drink? Are they kosher too?

The subject is vast; in this essay we'll stick to wine, including those made with honey known as a mead.

All-hive mead fermenting in a carboy

Organic wine and mead

Wines and meads are made from the fermenting of natural sugars by yeast cells to produce alcohol and carbon-dioxide; they use many different fruits, predominantly grapes and the honey from bees.

As we probably know grapes and fruit in general are amongst the most heavily sprayed crops of all; residues remain in the products. Strawberries are top of the pops.

• Fruit with highest pesticide residues

Whilst it's now absolutely proven that these biocides cause blood cancers, the neurodegenerative conditions and colony collapse disease, farming methods have not evolved so that we can produce food on a massive scale without them.

Agricultural workers are the most vulnerable. In France for example the government has officially recognised that they are prone to Parkinson's Disease, the fastest growing neurodegenerative condition worldwide. One in four elderly persons in China are now affected.

Organic wines are produced from grapes that have been grown using natural fertilisers and fruit that has not been sprayed with fungicides. It is more labour intensive and you can expect to pay extra; but it costs far less than the treatment for leukaemia or Parkinson's Disease.

Organic honey does not exist as we have no control over which flowers the bees can visit; but it's widely accepted that less pesticides are used in urban areas than in farmlands.

City honey from flowers in gardens has far less toxic ecocides like Roundup that is now fingered as the chief cause of Colony Collapse Disease; the brains of the bees are poisoned so that they cannot find their way home.

Natural wine, mead and cider

Natural wine and mead should not contain any preservatives; particularly sulphites which have been fingered in many illnesses, mostly in asthmatics.

Truly natural wines and meads also are not pasteurised; then they are rich sources of friendly yeast cells that contribute to the microbiome. To get them you probably either have to go directly to the brewery or ferment them yourself.

This natural apple cider is really very simple to brew at home. It's only for those who have access to organic fruit from a known source; probably your own garden.

• How is apple cider made?
• Make merrylegs perry cider
  

Fermenting apple cider

Natural honey

Fully-capped natural comb

Today it seems that almost every food and drink has been processed in some way. The bran and germ are extracted from flour; wines are pasteurised and preserved with sulphite. And honey is strained to remove all the pollen and heated before bottling so it remains clear. All have been spoiled to make acquiring and producing them easier; at great cost to our wellness.

The lignans in the bran prevent most types of malignant breast tumours; the friendly yeast cells help prevent infection by Candida and contribute to the microbiome. And natural honey surprisingly lowers blood glucose in diabetics.

The only control that beekeepers have to ensure their honey is organic is to choose apiary sites that are distant from commercial agriculture. They have to brew their own tipple if they want natural meads.

This natural, organic spicy peppadew mead has been fermented from honey gleaned from hives in a small village; there are no vast fields sprayed with toxic poisons neighbourhood. The fruit is grown in a small garden using only compost for fertiliser. It has not been pasteurised, nor suphites added. It is a rich probiotic.

When fruit is used to make a mead technically it is known as a melomel.

For those serious about natural vs organic wine and mead you have to spend more time or money; or both.

I simply don't have the time

As we have gotten older it has dawned on us that time is a commodity that is running out; the hour-glass is dipping dangerously. Our priorities change. Wellness, disability and losing our marbles all come into a new focus.

Too late, cry some, realising the damage has already been done. For fortunate people it comes early in life that the best person to care for the self is not the doctor; it is we ourselves.

The dentist cannot floss your teeth for you, nor can the chiropractor do your lower back exercises; your doctor can't ensure that the food and wine found in your home are mainly natural and organic.

In the huge struggle over natural vs organic wine and mead we have realised that making time for wellness is more sensible that spending even more consulting doctors and pharmacists.

Wine and mead as carcinogens

It is a proven fact that even small amounts of commercial wine increase the likelihood of cancer, particularly of the breast. Almost 50 people die every day in the UK alone from a malignant tumour directly caused by alcohol.

• How much alcohol causes cancer?

Yet the astonishing fact is that in four of the five Blue Zones of the world where healthy old age is the norm, they have weighed the debate about natural vs organic wine and mead; and imbibe every single day.

• Blue zone longevity
  

What does organic wine mean?

The question "what does organic wine mean" has to be answered in two parts.

Firstly the grapes and other fruit in a melomel have to be grown organically; that means with no inorganic fertiliser, herbicides and insect-repellents. Instead natural compost and animal manures are used to feed the plants. Frequently sheep and poultry wander through the vineyards and orchards keeping the vegetation down and supplying their droppings.

And secondly no sulphites are used to preserve the organic wines and meads.

It's a moot point whether organic wines and meads can be described as healthy; they still contain roughly the same amount of alcohol.

Is organic wine better for you? The most honest answer is that it's not as bad for you, is certainly more friendly towards the environment and since it is a probiotic may actually be claimed to be good for you. That cannot be proven until substantial numbers of people start choosing them over their commercial counterparts.

Natural vs organic wine and mead

Natural vs organic wine and mead also looks at how the product is processed and whether any honey used has been heated.

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