There’s nothing wrong with a glass a day.
A glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away — or does it? From the French to the Sardinians, cultures in which people tend to drink wine daily have famously low rates of heart disease and lead longer lives, on average, than Americans do. But does drinking wine actually help you live longer?
The belief that a daily glass of vino accounts for the health and longevity of those living in wine-centered food cultures goes back to a 1992 paper that called this phenomenon “the French paradox,” pointing to wine as an explanation. Today, however, our understanding of wine and its health effects is more nuanced. There is some evidence that drinking wine protects against certain health conditions, but the evidence that it leads to a longer life is thin, said Adrian Baranchuk, a professor of cardiology at Queen’s University School of Medicine in Ontario. “Studies of alcohol are limited in their design,” he said.
For starters, much of the research on red wine and mortality don’t focus on wine itself. Rather, the research investigates the health effects of polyphenols, a type of antioxidant in wine. These chemicals shield cells from damage caused by unstable molecules called free radicals, which are associated with heart disease and cancer risk, and have been proposed as one potential reason for wine’s purportedly positive health effects.
Related: Is champagne stronger than non-bubbly alcoholic drinks?
When an international team of researchers pooled the results of 22 studies and analyzed them as a whole, they found that people who consumed 800 milligrams of flavonoids — one type of polyphenol found in wine, as well as most fruits and vegetables — per day had a 24% lower risk of death within the study period compared with those who consumed no flavonoids. Their 2017 results, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that this difference dropped by 6% for every 100-milligram decrease in flavonoid consumption. (For example, people who consumed only 700 milligrams had an 18% lower risk of death.)
In the end, if you aren’t in the habit of drinking a glass of wine a day, or if you just prefer beer, there’s no reason to take up the habit for your heart health. Instead, try yoga or meditation, Baranchuk said, as “they have way more solid evidence than what alcohol has.”
If you already enjoy a glass of wine most nights, and are unsure about your habit’s effects on your health, check in with your doctor — particularly if you have any underlying health conditions. But for most people who drink moderately, there’s no need to stop, Baranchuk said. “We balance pros and cons of risks all the time,” he said. “For example, let’s say your office is 25 minutes from your home. Driving those 25 minutes increases mortality 0.005%. Are you going to say, ‘I’m not going to go to work anymore even though I love my job and it brings in income?’ You say, ‘I accept this risk.'”
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