Here’s a reason why you might want to get a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon on your next trip to the store to have with dinner.
Although excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages has been associated with negative health outcomes, new research shows that wine drinking is a bit different. In fact, drinking wine may even have some benefits.
“Looking at deaths from cardiovascular disease in particular, researchers found that moderate wine drinkers had a 21% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared with never or occasional drinkers,” said a recent press release from the American College of Cardiology.
It was referencing a study scheduled to be presented at the ACC’s Annual Scientific Session this weekend in New Orleans, La. This study looked at more than 340,000 British adults who participated in the UK Biobank study between 2006 and 2022.
“Each participant completed a dietary questionnaire when they enrolled in the study and were grouped into four categories based on their alcohol intake, measured in terms of grams of pure alcohol per day and week,” the ACC explained.
People consuming less than about 1.5 standard drinks per week were classified as never or occasional drinkers at the low end. Daily consumption of that many drinks per day was considered at the high end for women, while three drinks per day was considered at the high end for men.
“These findings can help refine guidance, emphasizing that the health risks of alcohol depend not only on the amount of alcohol consumed, but also on the type of beverage,” explained Dr. Zhangling Chen, a professor at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University in China and the study’s senior author.
Compared to wine intake, even low to moderate intake of spirits, beer or cider was linked to higher mortality based on the study findings. Compared to people who don’t drink or drink occasionally, low intake of spirits, beer or cider was associated with a 9% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
“Researchers said that several factors may account for the differences by alcohol type,” said the ACC. “Certain compounds present in red wine, such as polyphenols and antioxidants, may have benefits for cardiovascular health. Wine is also more likely to be consumed with meals and by people who have higher-quality diets and healthier behaviors in general, while spirits, beer and cider are more likely to be consumed outside of meals and were associated with lower overall diet quality and other lifestyle risk factors.”
It’s also not the only research that’s indicated wine has health benefits that set it apart from other alcoholic beverages, and red wine has long been considered to be health for the heart in moderate amounts. According to an article published by the Mayo Clinic earlier this year, resveratrol – one of the antioxidants found in red wine called polyphenols – may help protect the lining of blood vessels in the heart.
However, it added that more research is needed on the subject. Other research has also indicated that red wine has low concentrations of these polyphenols.
While the new study points to red wine having more benefits than other types of alcohol, the researchers said that, overall, it is aligned with other studies that show less alcohol consumption is better for health. Indeed, compared with never or occasional drinkers, those with high alcohol consumption were 24% more likely to die from any cause, 36% more likely to die from cancer and 14% more likely to die from heart disease.
“Differences in risk by alcohol type emerged at low and moderate levels of consumption, where drinking spirits, beer or cider was associated with a significantly higher risk of death while the same level of wine consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of death,” the ACC said.
