wine and health

Drinking and depression have problematic relationship, so the consensus from recent studies that moderate red wine consumption correlates to lower odds of depression may seem hard to swallow. But it is clear that daily wine drinkers show a J-shaped curve for clinical depression: lower in moderation, higher in excess. Some very good data comes from a long term study called PREDIMED (“Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea” (Prevention with Mediterranean Diet)), which is a randomized, multicenter, controlled, clinical trial conducted in Spain involving more than 5500 subjects. At up to 7 years of follow-up, wine intake within the range of 2-7 drinks per week was significantly associated with lower risk of incident depression. Resveratrol, wine’s miracle molecule, offers a potential explanation though it is likely the whole story. There is an experimental model of depression in rats, allowing for measurement of depressive symptoms in response to various drug treatments (no model yet for the...

There’s nothing like a good study on red wine as a weight loss aid to get attention, but in the case of a recent study from Washington State University it’s not quite so simple. Gilliam Fuller, writing for Elite Daily, led with “ Drink Up: Science Says Red Wine Can Actually Help You LoseWeight ” while the Sentinel Republic headlined simply “ Red wine can help you lose weight .” Meanwhile Chris Mercer reported in Decanter.com on the United Kingdom’s National Health Service weighing in with “ Red wine weight loss theory is ‘nonsense ’.” They’re all partly right, but mostly wrong. The study analyzed fat metabolism in mice given resveratrol, finding that it promoted conversion of normal white fat cells into brown fat, which is associated with higher metabolism and less weight retention. It was a well done study, but findings in mice given resveratrol cannot be directly extrapolated to humans consuming wine. So UK health officials were correct in stating that “‘based on mice studies onl...

The UK’s Royal Society for Public Health recently issued a warning that “the insidious increase in the size of wine glasses in bars and restaurants in the past decade” has led many of us to have “unwittingly increased the number of invisible calories we consume in alcohol.” They called for food labeling laws to include calorie content in alcoholic beverages, which are exempt. Writing in the British Medical Journal , RSPH chair Professor Fiona Sim cites a survey which found that 80% of adults did not know the calorie content of their drinks, and speculates that in addition to gargantuan glasses, this may be contributing to the obesity epidemic in the UK. According to the Professor, the average portion served is a whopping 250 ml. (8 ½ ounces!) If that’s true I can’t wait for my trip to the UK this October.  While public health officials are right to be concerned with rising obesity rates and abuse of alcohol, in this case they have missed the mark. For one thing, if larger glasse...

The promise of hangover-free wine has been in the news this week, based on new gene splicing techniques to manipulate the yeast used in fermentation. Using an enzyme called a “genome knife” researchers have been able to remove redundant copies of certain genes that produce compounds associated with hangovers, and what’s more, add in copies of genes that code for resveratrol.  All of this assumes of course that you don’t mind genetically modified yeast in your wine, and that these compounds are the main culprit in wine hangovers. To the second point, there is a long tradition of wine consumption in moderation with food. This in turn leads to slower consumption, less intoxication, and less propensity for hangovers. The real issue is compounds called biogenic amines which are associated with headaches and allergic –type symptoms. (Histamine is a biogenic amine for example, which is why you take anti-histamines for allergies.) Biogenic amines typically develop in wine during malol...

Did you remember to have a glass of wine last night? If not, it may be because you didn't have a glass of wine to help you remember. The association of wine consumption and better memory has long been suspected, especially as it relates to cognitive decline with advancing age. Studies consistently find a correlation between long term moderate wine consumption and better mental function in older populations, but clinical studies – where one group is prospectively compared to another – are still hard to come by. One such study comes from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Berlin. They compared 23 older adults given resveratrol for 26 weeks to an equal number given placebo. Before and after the study period, subjects underwent memory tasks and neuroimaging to assess volume and functional neural connectivity of the hippocampus, a key region implicated in memory. The resveratrol group had improvements in memory retention and increased neural connectiv...

Once again we have dueling headlines about the effects of red wine and resveratrol: Does it enhance the effects of exercise or negate them? A study from the University of Alberta in Canada found that resveratrol supplementation in animals improved muscle and heart functions in the same way as an hour of exercise would, leading the study’s lead author Jason Dyck to postulate that “We could conceivably create an improved exercise performance in a pill." Supplement marketers already label resveratrol as an “exercise mimic,” while bloggers and wine lovers conclude that a glass of red wine would therefore do the same. Meanwhile, at Queen’s University a few provinces over in Ontario, researchers were finding that resveratrol supplementation blunted the benefits of high-intensity interval exercise, a seemingly opposite effect. In a four-week placebo-controlled clinical trial , the data “clearly demonstrates that RSV supplementation doesn't augment training, but may impair the aff...

Much has been made recently about pro basketballer Amar’e Stoudemire’s “vinotherapy ” rehab program, which involves soaking in red wine baths. I tried it myself a few years ago at the Caudalie spa in Bordeaux, and while it was a fabulous experience I would put it more into the pampering category than physical rehab. But the practice does raise a lot of questions, and as with so many issues about wine and health there is a kernel of truth shrouded by a layer of hype. Dr. Richard Baxter and Mathilde Thomas For deep healing to happen, something would have to be absorbed from the wine in significant enough amounts to have an effect, and there is scant evidence that this occurs. A more realistic concept is rejuvenation of the skin, which can absorb certain compounds found in wine. Resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant, has received much attention both as a supplement and a skin care product. But just as there is not enough resveratrol in wine to explain wine’s health benefits alone,...