I shouldn’t have to write this – taking a bath in wine should intuitively seem like a very bad idea; at the very least, it’s wasteful, and doesn’t really help you. So why would you do it? Well, apparently… because it’s “cool”.

Drinking a glass of wine from time to time is quite healthy – it reduces the risk of depression, might reduce the risk of colon cancer and helps fight against aging. Furthermore, some studies have indicated that antioxidants in the red wine might eliminate reactive molecules (free radicals) that can damage your body’s protein and DNA.

But – and this is a big but – it needs to be inside you, not around you. So why bathe in it, when you can drink it? Well, if social media is any indication, bathing in wine has become quite popular lately, especially following New York Knicks’ Amar’e Stoudemire recent shares. He (and other people with a huge following) indulge in winy baths, and this prompted quite a stir. But is there any value behind these baths? Let’s have a look at what the science says.

Biologically speaking, the action of antioxidants is much more complicated than “they hunt free radicals”; in fact, we don’t exactly know what antioxidants do. They do play a role in our health, but we don’t know just how many we need and how they work. Diving in a bathtub filled with wine might not be your best option when it comes to getting antioxidants.

Also, many of them don’t really penetrate our skin that well; even if they were healthy, a creme or lotion would be better than soaking in win. Drinking would even be better. Here’s a video that discusses all this – and remember people: moderately consumption of red wine may be good for you. Bathing in it is useless and wasteful.

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