It’s peak red wine season and if anything, we can console ourselves with the knowledge that red wine is considered a “healthy” alcoholic beverage. But is that just wishful thinking? Or is red wine (in moderation) actually good for our gut, longevity and inflammation levels, as some studies seem to suggest?
Is red wine good for you?
“Alcohol, and therefore alcoholic drinks including red wine, is not good for us,” says Dr. Federica Amati, a public health nutritionist, medical scientist and author of Recipes for a better menopause. “As with everything we eat and drink, there is nuance: drinking red wine is part of a much bigger picture of the things we do, eat and drink throughout our lives.”
Alcohol is a cancer-causing neurotoxin that causes inflammation, so any intake is worse than no alcohol at all, but the reason red wine has become associated with health has everything to do with its polyphenol content. “Red wine has high levels of polyphenols, which are healthy plant chemicals that counteract some of the negative effects of alcohol,” says Amati. “It is also typically eaten with a meal and with friends or family, and it is also one of the traditional dishes in the diets of the Mediterranean and the Blue Zone.” Plus point: it tastes good.
Despite headlines suggesting it may be good for our health, these stories often tend to distort scientific findings to support a clickbait headline. Dr. Amati also says that there are “confounding factors in the population data when we look at wine consumption. People who drink red wine tend to have better diets and lifestyles, making them healthier overall. This does not mean that the red wine itself is healthy, but rather the lifestyle associated with drinking red wine,” she explains.
The truth is that no form of alcohol is good for you. “All the benefits of red wine, such as [the poylphenol] resveratrol can be found in other foods and supplements,” says Dr. Mark Hyman, a physician and functional health expert. “And women are even more affected by the harmful effects of alcohol than men. There are studies linking alcohol consumption to breast cancer. It depletes nutrients and is harmful to your intestines, liver and brain.”
It is also the enemy of a good night’s sleep, even when consumed in small quantities. “You may feel more relaxed if you have a glass of wine in the evening, but I think you would be surprised to see what alcohol does to your body while you sleep,” he adds. “Sleep is when we detox and recover – we don’t need to make it harder by adding alcohol, a toxin, to the mix.”
How much red wine should we drink?
It’s not something many of us want to hear right now, but the less the better. According to Amati, it’s all about the dose: “A glass of red wine with a meal and in the context of a healthy diet and lifestyle will not have the same negative effect as a bottle of wine drunk on an empty stomach in the context of a less healthy lifestyle,” she says. “For good health, population data suggest that drinking a small glass with a meal may be helpful.”
