The French seem to know something about the health benefits
of red wine. In a study that compared French and German red
wines, the French red wines delivered a greater health
benefit due to their higher level of antioxidants.
In 1991, the television program 60 minutes aired a report
called The French Paradox. The program explored the heart
attack rates of daily moderate wine drinkers in southern
France; their rate is one of the lowest in the world, and
their food among the unhealthiest.
One of the most studied antioxidants in red wine is
resveratrol, a compound found in the seeds and skins of
grapes. Red wine has a high concentration of
resveratrol because
the skins and seeds ferment in the grapes' juices during the
red wine-making process. This prolonged contact during
fermentation produces significant levels of resveratrol in
the finished red wine.
Resveratrol is a type of polyphenol called a phytoalexin, a
class of compounds produced as part of a plant's defense
system against disease. It is produced in the plant in
response to an invading fungus, stress, injury, infection,
or ultraviolet irradiation. Red wine contains high levels of
resveratrol, as do grapes, raspberries, peanuts, and other
plants.
Beliefs in the benefits of red wine got a boost in 2006 when
Harvard Medical School researchers found that
resveratrol made mice
live longer, more active lives, even if the mice made pigs
of themselves. The study, reported in the journal Nature,
showed that with daily doses of resveratrol, middle-aged
mice on an unhealthy, fat-heavy food regimen remained as
healthy, or even healthier, than those eating much less fat.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, people who
drink in moderation are different from non-drinkers or heavy
drinkers in ways that could influence health and disease.
Part of a national 1985 health interview survey showed that
moderate drinkers were more likely than non-drinkers or
heavy drinkers to be at a healthy weight, to get 7-8 hours
of sleep a night, and to exercise regularly.
The definition of moderate drinking is something of a
balancing act. Moderate drinking sits at the point at which
the health benefits of alcohol clearly outweigh the risks.
The latest consensus places this point at one to two drinks
per day for men, and one drink per day for women -
moderation seems to be the key.
