Is red wine good for health?
“What can we get you from Goa?” people I know often ask me when they’re going to my home state. “Be a sweetheart, and get me a bottle of port wine,” I tell them, already feeling lightheaded with the joy of anticipation.
I have to admit it. I love the taste of sweet red wines. Port wine, moscato wine, madeira wine… I love them all. Nice and chilled.
Wine being a once-in-a-way treat for me, I usually never worry about questions like – how much red wine is good for you. But with Christmas just round the corner, red wine sales will soon soar through the roof. So I thought it was a good time to uncork all that wine-scientists have discovered about the good stuff this far.
As a wine enthusiast, every time I read news reports that declare “Wine is good for you”, it gives me a high. But then some other researchers publish just the opposite, insisting that drinking wine can harm your health. If one says “Wine lowers the risk of heart disease”, another screams “Wine can cause cancer”!
It’s all so confusing, it makes you want to clear your head by downing a bottle of refreshing vino.
The French Paradox
I remember reading in the early 1990s about red wine being the cause of ‘the French Paradox’. A study carried out in France by Serge Renaud, a scientist from Bordeaux University had found that the surprisingly low incidence of coronary heart disease among French people despite a saturated fat-rich diet was due to the regular consumption of red wine along with their meals. The study also found that regular red wine drinkers had higher levels of the good cholesterol (HDL).
Then scientists began to test red wine to discover what miracle ingredient gave it such heart-friendly properties. Several studies concluded that the health benefits of red wine could be attributed to an anti-oxidant polyphenol called resveratrol present in the skins of red and purple grapes. Resveratrol has been found to neutralise harmful free radicals in the body, eliminate chemicals that cause blood clots, and also stimulate an enzyme in the brain responsible for nerve regeneration. But as it often happens, a contradictory story soon followed. The quantity of resveratrol in a glass of red wine is too insignificant to result in any health benefits, it said.
Having a scientific bent of mind, it hurts to admit that science has been embarrassingly inconsistent when it comes to understanding the effects of wine on our health. Nevertheless, wine studies so far have revealed some interesting information that’s worth checking out.
Health benefits of red wine
Around 400 BC, Hippocrates, the ‘Father of Western Medicine’, endorsed including wine as part of a healthy diet, and also prescribed it for disinfecting wounds, and treating diarrhea.
In recent times, scientists have found that red wine contains a number of flavonoids, antioxidants, and polyphenols that could be beneficial for health, and that it can combat Alzhiemer’s and dementia, and improve mental faculties. French researchers found that wine improves brain function in women over 50. (Yay!)
In 2007, the Harvard Medical School published the results of a study carried out on men aged between 40 to 64 that revealed that just four to seven glasses (150 ml each) of red wine per week reduced the risk for prostate cancer. What made this possible? They couldn’t tell. Another study had found that red wine has anti-aging properties.
In 2010, the Journal of Cardiovascular Disease Research reported a study that showed red wine can increase good HDL cholesterol and lower the risk for blood clots and blocked arteries.
The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published the details of a 2014 study that indicated red wine could kill the dangerous bacteria in the mouth that cause dental diseases, including cavities.
The American Cancer Society reported that researchers had found an active antioxidant in red wine known as quercetin that inhibits the growth of cancer cells, particularly colon cancer cells.
Some other studies suggest that moderate wine consumption could lower the risk of developing heart disease in the elderly. Having just one drink of red wine (150ml) per day, 3 to 4 days of the week, could reduce the risk of stroke in middle-aged men.
In 1998, Prof. Richard Semba of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and his team commenced a study to find out the connection between the levels of resveratrol consumed in the diet and the health of people. The study involved testing the level of resveratrol metabolites in the urine samples of people aged 65 and above in two villages in Italy for over a decade (1998 to 2009). Just like in France, the people here too live long lives. In fact, many say their doctors ask them to have a little red wine every day with their food for good health!
So what did Dr. Semba find out? His study concluded that there was no clear association between higher levels of resveratrol metabolites and the condition of people’s health.
We told you, a chorus of doctors then said. All the laboratory tests on resveratrol health benefits have been done on mice, not on humans, they pointed out. Now you may think, “I’m not a mouse from any angle”, and decide to pour all that good wine you have at home down the kitchen sink. But wait, there’s more.
Last year, when asked if there could be some other health-promoting, miracle ingredients in wine excluding resveratrol, Dr. Semba said, “That’s a possibility, yes. Wine is a very complex beverage. There are probably a lot more secrets to it than we know.”
Aha, I thought. Dr. Semba and others don’t deny the link between red wine and good health; they just don’t know yet which natural chemicals in wine are responsible for the health benefits, and how they work their magic.
A word of caution
Despite the health benefits, doctors warn that drinking wine could lead to binge drinking and addiction to hard liquor, both of which are certainly harmful. After all, too much of a good thing, even water, could be poison, right? Binge drinking can damage the brain, and cause some types of cancer and liver diseases.
Also, there is not much evidence of wine drinking improving the health of younger people, who in any case have a lower risk of heart disease.
So how much red wine should you drink? How much red wine is good for health? The golden words are “moderate quantities”.
The celebrated cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn clarified that ‘moderate drinking’ for women would be one drink a day, and for men, two or less. The different limits are because of the characteristic way in which men and women metabolise alcohol due to different levels of certain stomach enzymes.
Just recently, Prof. Roger Corder, of Queen Mary, University of London, and author of the book – The Red Wine Diet – drew attention to the way the Italians and French have their red wine. They have it in small quantities and with their food, he said, which is the right way to have alcoholic drinks.
Hmmm, old timers in Goa knew that long ago, I thought, remembering how my grandfather would knock back a tiny shot glass or two (a few tablespoons each) of copachem everyday before lunch and dinner and lived an active life till 80.
The bottom line. Red wine in moderation is good. However, if you can’t tolerate alcohol in any form, don’t drink it. In any case, foodstuffs like blueberries, cranberries, pomegranates, grapes, nuts, and chocolate are also rich sources of resveratrol and other anti-oxidants.
But if you’re having red wine in moderation or better still, just an occasional half-glass like me, let’s raise a toast to that!
Cheers!
