wine and health

Just when we thought the issue was settled, a new large scale study from France's National Cancer Institute finds that even small amounts of regular drinking can increase the risk of cancer. In fact, even as little as one glass of wine per day supposedly ups the odds of cancers of the throat all the way through to the colon and rectum. Problem is, this study is so out of phase with everything we have been hearing about wine and health that it ends up confusing the issue rather than helping. Here's what I think: The first key to putting this in context is to remember that cancer isn't the whole story with wine and health. Benefits in lowered cardiovascular disease risk, Alzheimer's, diabetes, osteoporosis, and many others would vastly outweight the increased cancer risk even if it did exist. Secondly, no single study provides the definitive answer; in order for it to be meaningful, it has to be independently confirmed by other studies. This one is inconsistent with nearl...

One of the hardest notions to shake is that taking antioxidant vitamins (A, C, and E) will reduce the chances of developing what we call "degenerative" diseases: things like cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's. We all know that antioxidants are good for us, because the oxidation theory of aging--free radical molecules wreaking havoc on our DNA--is so well accepted. But studies keep throwing cold water on the idea that vitamins are the key. The latest is a study from the Fred Hutchinson cancer center here in Seattle, out this past weekend. This study, called VITAL (VITamins And Lifestyle) looked at not just the traditional vitamin supplements but also lutein and lycopene. Across most categories, cancer risk was actually higher in those using supplements. This is consistent with many previous studies but somehow vitamin sales seem to be unaffected. So what does this have to do with wine? Recall the whole wine and health story started with the identification of what we no...