Red Wine
As my 21st birthday is fast approaching, i decided i want to learn a little bit more about alcohol and it’s affects. When doing some research I saw many articles that claimed that red wine is good for you. I have also heard this before, especially from my father who is a wine collector. I started to question what that means; how is it good for you? In what way? I wanted to learn more.
There are several articles I found claiming a few different things. Some of the claims are that red wine can improve heart health, prevent colon cancer, slow memory loss, prevent weight gain, and more.
However most of the articles did not really have sufficient evidence, claiming things like “studies show” and “scientists believe”. The problem is that they did not claim where they found that information.
One article in particular jumped out at me. It claimed that drinking wine is the equivalent to one hour of exercise. Surely this couldn’t be true. I clicked on the article and traced back where they found the information.
The claim came from a study that looked at the effects of Resveratrol, a compound that is found in wine, and certain fruits. The study was done in a lab with modules, and found that resveratrol was a natural performing enhancing compound. The dependent variable was the amount of resveratrol that is consumed and the independent variable is the effects on the human body. The hypothesis was that resveratrol enhance physical performance and the null hypothesis would be that resveratrol has no effect on physical performance.
The study was misinterpreted and twisted to come out with many different claims that resveratrol was a substitute for exercise. This simply isn’t true. While the compound can enhance performance it does not replace it and still requires exercise in order to see actual results.
In addition to other false claims, there were also articles that claimed that red wine increased the risk of certain cancers.
Studies on wine suffer from the file drawer problem; people tend to post the good findings only because many people like to drink wine. However there have been negative results found that are not often discussed by the media.
In conclusion I think it is safe to say the wine should be consumed like every other food or drink; in moderation. A moderate amount of wine most likely won’t kill you, but it is not wise to drink copious amounts instead of exercising.
Another thing that red wine can do help improve heart health, given moderation though. Red wine has a chemical called resveratrol, which helps against cardiovascular diseases. here is a site that might be able to give you some more information. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20100621/how-red-wine-helps-the-heart#1
I was actually JUST having a conversation with a friend about this topic, and it struck me hard to believe that red wine could actually be compared to exercise. Prior to reading your blog, I had done some of my own research and (like you) could not really find HARD evidence to prove or disprove this notion. So, I probably will still continue going to the gym, but a glass of wine here and there shouldn’t hurt either. Here’s an article of 8 reasons to love red wine: http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/health-benefits-of-red-wine
I also have heard people say that red wine is good for you. After looking up the health effects of red wine, I agree that a lot of it looks like guesswork. The Mayo Clinic also mentions that the link between red wine and fewer heart attacks still isn’t completely understood. Their best guess is that it is the antioxidants in wine protect against cholesterol buildup. Still, I agree with you that wine and other alcohol should definitely be drank in moderation.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/in-depth/red-wine/art-20048281