Wine and Cardiovascular Health
Most people have heard that wine is healthy and can even prevent heart disease. How true is this? There have been multiple studies looking into wine preventing heart disease and all 13 are nicely summarized in a meta-analysis by Di Castelnuovo et al.1
The 13 studies included over 209,000 individuals. 11 of the studies looked into risk of heart disease and 2 examined the risk of stroke. Five of these studies were case control (less useful) with five prospective (better evidence) studies. Each had variable intakes of alcohol per day. Interestingly, the benefits were only statistically significant up to 150 mL/day.
One serving/glass of wine measures 5 fluid ounces which equals roughly 140 mL. So just over a glass of wine per day appears to be beneficial in preventing cardiovascular disease. A similar effect (though less beneficial) was also demonstrated for beer consumption. No specific amount was found to be more beneficial then any other.
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The authors of the meta-analysis concluded that a 32% reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease occurred in wine drinkers compared to non-wine drinkers. One glass of wine per night appears to be beneficial. More then that may bring more risk then benefit. According to Health Canada, men should consume less then 14 drinks per week and women less then 10. Low-to-moderate consumption of wine appears to have it's benefits.
Beer appears to have a less beneficial effect, especially in reducing the risk of strokes. As no difference in amount of beer consumption and vascular risk was identified these results must be interpreted with caution. As well, the influence of binge drinkers (those who drank 10-14 drinks in 1-2 sittings rather then spread evenly through the week) is difficult to separate out.
Regardless, there appears to be some benefit. The degree of benefit may be overstated but if you keep within the recommendations (10 drinks per week for women, 14 for men) you are most likely to reap the benefits. I would suggest no more then one drink per night. This meta-analysis did not distinguish between red and white wine.
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So how does wine prevent heart disease and stroke? One potential explanation is the presence of Resveratrol in red grape skins, purple grape juice, peanuts and red wine. In a recent study Sinclair et al.2 demonstrated it's potential benefits, at least in mice. In short, they fed one group of mice a standard diet and a second group a high calorie diet. The high calorie diet mice died faster. A third group of mice were on the high calorie diet and Resveratrol and lived as long as the standard calorie diet mice.
Very interesting work. Impossible to know whether this is reproducible in humans at this time but it may explain the benefits of wine (red wine in particular) in preventing vascular disease. Again, this was a study in mice and often these studies fail to translate as effective when placed into human studies but it is interesting. So if you enjoy a glass of wine each night you appear to be doing yourself a favor. If you enjoy 3 or more it's time to cut back.
Dr. Lawrence Korngut, M.D.
Chief Neurology Resident
London Health Sciences Centre
London, Ontario
References
1 Di Castelnuovo et al., Meta-Analysis of Wine and Beer Consumption in Relation to Vascular Risk. Circulation 2002;105:2836-2844.
2 Sinclair DA et al., Resveratrol improves health and survival of mice on a high-calorie diet. Nature; doi:10.1038/nature05354
