WINE AND YOUR HEALH - LET'S MAKE IT CLEAR in cooperation with Christine Leroux, oenologist In the last 20 years, several specialists have focused research on the relationship between the low rate of cardiovascular disease and wine drinking in certain European countries where people are reputed to eat large quantities of very rich food. Obviously, the subject is of interest to both the wine industry and the public health milieu, as heart disease is the main cause of death in the United States and is important mortality factor for several European nations. The first news of these studies was broadcast in 1991 on the American television program 60 Minutes when Dr. Serge Renault, director of the nutrition and cardiology department at the National Institute for Health Research in Lyon, France, made tens of millions of Americans and Canadians aware of the so-called "French Paradox." Dr.Renault was also one of the first scientists to offer the hypothesis that the combination of food, lifestyle and wine intake could have a direct influence on the mortality rate and could explain the relatively low rate of cardiovascular disease among the French. More significantly, drinking red wine appears to be the factor responsible for the low rate of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Curtis Ellison, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Boston University and another pioneer in the field, insists, however, on the fact that this wine intake must be both regular and moderate. Since this information was first made public, a number of studies have joined the quest for the key to the puzzle. In November 1995, 60 Minutes took up the subject again, confirming that the moderate drinking of wine did indeed have a positive effect on health, quoting the conclusive results of a Danish study, the Copenhagen City Heart Study, that was carried out on 13,000 men and women over a 10-year period. Those who drank a little alcohol, especially wine, showed a mortality risk rate 40% lower than study participants who did not drink1. As study after study demonstrated the link between longer life expectancy and the moderate intake of alcohol, it became more and more urgent to find what was responsible and what biological mechanisms were at play. According to some studies, a moderate dose of alcohol would be involved two ways in cardiovascular disease prevention. First, by increasing HDL cholesterol - the good cholesterol - that ferries LDL cholesterol - the bad one - outof the blood. Second, by inhibiting the aggregation (lumping together) of platelets of cholesterol that clog arteries. Alcohol is a good vasodilator (it dilates blood vessels). In addition, red wine brings in phenolic compounds, especially the sub-family of flavonoids2. Since 1993, partners at the University of Montpellier, France, and the University of California at Davis, California have been studying the antioxidant capacity of phenolic compounds and their absorption by the body. So antioxidants can have a chance of inhibiting oxidation of the LDL (the bad cholesterol, the one that could block arteries), these compounds must be absorbed and be found in the body. The Montpellier/U.C.D. study has demonstrated the absorption of phenolic compounds after the ingestion of wine, especially the catechin that is part of the sub-family of flavonoids. The study used mice predisposed to developing tumors that closely resemble a type of tumor found in humans. It was observed in mice with a diet based on de-alcoholized and dehydrated red wine that the first tumor appeared much later, while those with a normal diet had developed several tumors during the same period. The results suggest that phenolic compounds in red wine could play a protective role against carcinogenesis (the start of a cancerous tumor)3. Note that professor David M. Goldberg of the biochemistry department at the University of Toronto is also doing research on another sub-family of molecules - reversatrols - in the phenolic compound family. They are present in a smaller quantity than catechins but they act by reducing lipids (fat) in blood plasma, and by reducing blood cholesterol and the accumulation of plaque in atherosclerosis4. The significant presence of alcohol in the wine has motivated certain researchers and prohibitionists to mitigate the positive effects of wine drinking. Professor Michael Criqui of the University of California at San Diego, reminds us that excessive alcohol is an important cause of death, citing diseases related to alcoholism (cirrhosis of the liver, cancer of the throat and the oesophagus and neuropsychiatric disease) and highway accidents. According to this researcher, the distinction between drinking moderately and drinking abusively is often difficult to establish. He believes it would be irresponsible to advise the public to drink alcohol as a remedy against cardiovascular disease. Dr. Ellison does not deny that the problems of alcohol abuse are real, but he does contend that the important point in the message is not to start drinking so you can live longer but rather to drink reasonably and consistently and to be aware the potential benefits as well as the dangers of alcohol. Moreover, to benefit from the positive effects of alcohol on cardiovascular disease, just one glass of red wine per day is enough1. [Image] Unfortunately, alcohol is also closely related to breast cancer in women. According to a study by professor Matthew P. Longnecker at the University of California in Los Angeles, women who drink alcohol have a greater risk of developing breast cancer5. Dr. Ellison reviewed professor Longnecker's study and discovered that certain facts were not published. He found that the risk of breast cancer changes according to the form in which the alcohol was consumed. According to the Longnecker study, for each 13 grams of alcohol consumed as wine,there is a 7% decrease in the risk of developing breast cancer. However, in the case of spirits, there is an 18% increase in risk for each 13 g consumed6. In another study carried out a the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, 121,700 nurses have been studied every two years since 1976. More than 2,600 deaths were studied in relation with each subject's history of alcohol consumption. When compared to teetotallers and heavy drinkers, female nurses who drink little or moderately (from 1.5 g to 29.9 g of alcohol per day) had a significantly lower mortality rate. This decrease in the death rate among moderate drinkers is explained mainly by a reduced risk of fatal cardiovascular accidents, while those who drank heavily had a high mortality rate due not to cardiovascular accidents but to other causes, such as breast cancer or cirrhosis of the liver6. In conclusion, opinions still diverge within the medical community as to the appropriateness of advising people to drink alcohol or wine moderately as a prevention measure. Certain physicians admit to drinking moderately themselves, but would not go so far as to advise their patients to do the same. Physicians and scientists alike hesitate to rely on people's good judgment regarding alcohol intake. Meanwhile, Dr. Ellison feels it is harmful to maintain so many taboos against drinking with the excuse that alcohol could be deadly. It's all a question of education, he says. People should know the positive and the negative sides of alcohol. Researchers and physicians do agree that to avoid certain cardiovascular diseases, it's not enough to drink moderately, you have to eat healthy and have a healthy lifestyle as well. In May 1992, Dr. JoAnn Mason reviewed the current state of cardiovascular disease in the United States and found that tobacco, obesity and high blood pressure were the main factors in increasing heart disease, while exercise and moderate alcohol intake helped lower the risk7. Obviously, moderate drinking is not the only factor in a reduced mortality rate, but it is certainly part of the factors that reduce overall risk. Regular exercise, a healthy diet and taking the time to sit down and enjoy a good glass of wine with your meal may well be the secret to a healthy heart and a long life. ________________ 1 Wine Business Monthly & Grower and Cellar News, May 1995, p. 21-26 2 Revue des nologues & des techniques vinicoles et nologiques, No 78, December 1995 3 Revue des nologues & des techniques vinicoles et nologiques, No 79, April 1996, p. 7-14 4 Wine Business Monthly & Grower and Cellar News, January 1995, p. 41 5 Risk of Breast Cancer in Relation to Lifetime Alcohol Consumption, M.Longnecker, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, June 21, 1995 6 Wine Business Monthly & Grower and Cellar News, August 1995, p. 46-49 7 Wine: Prescription for good health, Wine Spectator, March 15, 1994, p. 37-44 © Distrivin Ltée 1996-2000. This site is © To Distrivin Ltée. 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