Moderate red wine consumption has been lauded in recent years as a healthy dietary addition, but alcohol in general has long been understood to be destructive to the body, so does the benefit trump the risk? Basically, what’s the bottom line on red wine consumption?

The Healthy Benefits

Red wine contains resveratrol and flavonoids, both types of polyphenolic compounds which have shown strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other anti-atherogenic effects, as well as organic acids and pigment-producing anthocyanins. In fact, while many studies have been conducted on the compounds in wine, scientists have described red wine as an extremely varied and complex biochemical compound. Wine’s powerful profile of pholyphenols even appears to fight aging, heart disease, vision disorders, allergies, and viral infections.

Resveratrol has been associated with a host of health claims, including a cardiovascular, anti-cancer, and obesity remedy, and is found in grapes, red wine, purple grape juice, peanuts, and some berries – with red wine being the highest source.  Resveratrol came to scientific attention during the mid-1990s as a possible explanation for the "French Paradox"—the low incidence of heart disease among the French people, who eat a relatively high-fat diet and consume a great deal of red wine per capita.  The compound is responsible for much of wine’s discussed health effects.

Weight Loss

For starters, Resveratrol has been linked by numerous studies to weight loss.  A study conducted the University of Ulm in Germany found that it had anti-obesity properties and inhibited the development of fat cells.  In laboratory experiments, resveratrol hindered fat storage in cells and prevented “pre-fat cells” from converting into mature fat cells.  It also showed reduced production of cytokines – substances linked to the development of obesity-related disorders and clogged arteries. Furthermore, resveratrol appeared to stimulate the formation for adiponectin – a protein known to decrease the risk of heart attack. To consume wine equivalent to the amount fed to that rats however, you would have to drink over one hundred glasses per day – an impossible quantity which lends skepticism to the role the resveratrol in wine can play in weight loss.

In another 13 year study following 19,220 women 39 or older with a healthy body weight conducted at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, all women tended to gain weight but the 38% of women who didn’t drink gained the most. The women’s overall weight gain decreased as alcohol intake increased.  Researchers theorized that a calorie from alcohol has less impact on weight than other food calories and that the liver may develop a separate metabolic pathway to break down alcohol, turning surplus energy into heat rather than fat.  Interestingly though, different types of alcohol were linked to different types of weight gain, with those drinking red wine gaining less than those drinking beer or spirits.

Though wine appears to be the healthier choice for drinkers, long-term controlled studies are also difficult to discern since those drinking wine also tend to have a higher education level, eat more fruits and vegetables, and exercise more often. Still, numerous other studies have reinforced resveratrol’s connection to weight loss.

Researchers at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France found mice given high-doses of resveratrol run twice as far as  ordinary laboratory mice before collapsing from exhaustion. The resveratrol mice also had energy-charged muscles and a reduced heart rate like trained athletes because of an increased number of mitochondria - organelles in the body’s cells that generate energy - detected in their muscle cells.

The theory is that resveratrol activates a chemical called sirtuin, which in turn activates a substance known as PGC1-alph which then stimulates cells to produce more mitochondria and detoxification chemicals.

Longevity

Resveratrol also appears to increase longevity. Caloric restriction – which is the surest known method for extending the lifespan of a number of species, including mammals - stimulates the activity of an enzyme, Sir2, known in yeast. A recent study found that providing resveratrol to yeast even without caloric restriction increased Sir2 activity and extended the yeast’s lifespan by 70%. Resveratrol also extended the lifespan of worms, fruit flies, and fish.

 Anti-Cancer

Adding to it’s lineup, resveratrol may help ward off cancer. Cancer cells replicate rapidly and don’t respond to cell death signals that initiate apoptosis - a cell suicide mechanism that uses specialized cellular machinery to kill itself. Resveratrol was shown to induce apoptosis and inhibit cellular proliferation in numerous cancer cell lines.

The compound also counteracts another means by which cancer cells spread. Cancer cells invade other tissue with enzymes call matrix metalloproteinases, but resveratrol was found to block the activity of certain types of matrix metalloproteinases, thereby helping to prevent cancer cells from spreading.

Some tissue compounds don’t become carcinogenic though, until they’ve been metabolized by cytochrome enzymes. Resveratrol also inhibits the activity of certain cytochrome enzymes, decreasing cell’s exposure to activated carcinogens.

Still working, resveratrol was found to promote the excretion of carcinogenic chemicals by increasing the activity of NAD(P)H:quononereductase (a phase II biotransformation enzyme) in cultured cells.  It also inhibits the process (angiogenesis) by which invasive tumors develop new blood vessels.

Cardiovascular Protection

Perhaps one of resveratrol’s most understood and appreciated traits is its ability to inhibit the platelet aggregation that can lead to blood clots and strokes. The flavinoids found in red wine also help here by  exhibiting antioxidant properties and helping to prevent blood clots and plaques formation in arteries.

Cholesterol

Other studies indicate that the resveratrol in red wine can raise HDL cholesterol (the Good cholesterol) and prevent LDL cholesterol (the Bad cholesterol) from forming. Plus, red wine contains glucose based plant compounds called saponins linked to the ability to lower cholesterol. According to Scientists at the University of California, Davis, while resveratrol is thought to block cholesterol oxidation by its antioxidant action, saponins may work by binding to and preventing the absorption of cholesterol.

Moderation the Key?

However, while these results are indeed enticing, the question remains whether the moderate doses of resveratrol and other compounds found in red wine could have a similar effect in humans. Based on the class of proteins resveratrol effects, it is likely the results experienced by mice will be similar in human tissue. But will the small dose from a glass of wine have any effect?

Though human clinical trials are need to be completed to confirm the efficacy of the resveratrol in wine, it turns out that wine may very well be the compounds’ best vehicle for consumption. Resveratrol is absorbed best with buccal absorption – that is in the mouth! Many wine drinkers sip slowly and pause before swallowing, making the french favorite a perfect form for allowing the resveratrol to be absorbed efficiently into the blood. A higher bioavailability may help the much more moderate doses of resveratrol found in red wine to have a healthy impact.

Dr. David Sinclair of the Harvard Medical School, discovered that moderate doses of resveratrol protected mice from the metabolic effects from a high-calorie diet. Sinclair’s mice did not lose weight, but they lived far longer than the mice on the same diet who didn’t receive resveratrol. 

Researchers have suggested that the moderate resveratrol content in red wine, consumed regularly in small amounts – such as having one glass each night – may offer similar benefits over time as that seen in high-dosage studies.

 

Alcohol’s Conflict

Truly, wine appears to have real potential as a health enhancing drink, but what about the alcohol? It turns out, moderate alcohol consumption in general appears to have a positive impact; however, anything more than 1-2 drinks per day for men and 1 for women becomes destructive.  However, while many studies assert the same finding in regards to alcohol consumption, some scientists still warn against alcohol.

 

Alcohol is metabolized to acetaldehyde, a highly toxic carcinogen, which is then converted to acetic acid.
Consuming a lot of alcohol at once may produce more acetaldehyde than your body can quickly metabolize. After all, it is known to damage the stomach, kidneys, and liver and adds fat by producing cravings for itself and other carbohydrates and possibly addictive substances, like cigarettes. For example, studies suggest alcohol can lower the risk of heart disease, but this may be negated by a slight increase in breast cancer risk seen in women who consume more than a glass of alcohol per day.

The overall association between death and alcohol consumption is unfavorable for men enjoying over 11 drinks per week and does not support the promotion of drinking for health.  

 

Conclusion

As for it’s reputation as the miracle of the french paradox, well, there’s just too many difference between the lifestyles of the french and Americans from their activity levels to the food they eat to isolate red wine as the magic ingredient.

However, there’s an interesting regional variation in disease and longevity across France. People living in South West France drink more red wines rich in polyphenols, yet this is one of the areas of France with low cardiovascular disease even though it’s also one of the areas in France where they eat some of the fattiest foods. Intriguing, no?

Either way, with the potential dangers of alcohol disclaimed, the powerful effects of various compounds in red wine cannot be ignored, either.  As a safe rule, consuming one glass of red wine per day for men and women may offer a myriad of desireable health benefits.

If you already enjoy wine and would like to reap some of the aforementioned benefits, look for dark reds like Red Zinfandel and Pinoit Noir that have been aged a long time.