IS RED WINE REALLY HEALTHY?

Is red wine really healthy?

 

The benefits of drinking red wine as a way of preventing heart disease is being challenged.

A few years ago researchers claimed that two glasses of wine a night could help prevent cardiac problems such as heart attacks and strokes. But some doctors are now worried that the advice may have been taken too seriously.

The influential American Heart Association (AHA) has published guidance in its journal Circulation, telling doctors that the protective benefits of red wine are still not certain.

Doctors have instead been told to concentrate on more proven methods to reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks - such as exercise, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, controlling weight and getting enough exercise.

The AHA says: 'Although population surveys and in vitro experiments show that wine may have limited beneficial effects, more compelling data exists for less hazardous approaches to cardiovascular risk reduction.'

The main author of the research, Dr Ira Goldberg, says other proven methods of lowering cholesterol and stabilizing blood pressure are much better for preventing cardiac problems than wine.

Dr. Mariann Piano, a professor of nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago and member of the advisory committee is worried that media enthusiasm for the wine-as-medicine hypothesis may be misleading the public.

She says eating well and exercising regularly are by far better lifestyle choices than heading for a bar. 'We all love to eat and drink, but drinking will never be a strategy for preventing heart disease,' she says.

Population surveys have shown lower rates of heart disease in some parts of Europe where wine is consumed regularly - despite high-fat diets.

But while there have been lots of studies in recent medical literature about the beneficial effects of drinking, researchers still don't have the scientific proof that it is more effective that conventional measures.

Also, while moderate alcohol consumption may prove beneficial to men, excessive drinking can lead to other heart problems and is associated with breast cancer in women.

Dr Goldberg, a professor of medicine at Columbia University in New York, also points out that alcohol is an addictive substance with many downsides.

'There's a perception in the public that there's a quick fix to preventing heart problems, and that the fix is drinking wine,' she says. 'But if you are overweight and don't exercise, wine is not going to help.'