Page 34 - BBC - The Scientific Guide to a Healthier You

DIET

INSTANT EXPERT

5 of wine a night works out at roughly 14 units

ARE THERE POTENTIAL of alcohol a week. The wine and water were
provided free of charge and the empty bottles
BENEFITS OF ALCOHOL? collected afterwards to make sure they really
were drinking regularly.
The Mayo Clinic in the US cautiously So what happened? Well, as a red wine

endorses the claim that there are drinker who struggles with their blood sugar
potential health benefits to modest levels, I was delighted to read that when it
came to measurable health benefits the red
alcohol consumption, including:
wine drinkers came out on top, with the white
O Reducing your risk of developing and dying wine drinkers a close second, followed by the
from heart disease mineral water drinkers.
O Possibly reducing your risk of ischemic stroke The researchers concluded that red wine
– when the arteries to the brain become was found to be superior in improving overall
narrowed or blocked, causing severely metabolic profiles, mainly by improving
reduced blood flow the lipid profile, by increasing good (HDL)
O Possibly reducing your risk of diabetes
cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 (one of the
major constituents of HDL cholesterol), while
There are many possible reasons for the benefits listed
above, but it turns out that wine – and red wine in decreasing the ratio between total cholesterol
particular – has a positive effect on gut bacteria. and HDL cholesterol.
Evidence for this comes from a number of sources, Prof Iris Shai, principal investigator of the
including a small study published in The American Journal trial, said that while the two types of wine
of Clinical Nutrition in 2012. The researchers recruited
contained roughly the same amount of alcohol,
10 middle-aged men and, after an alcohol-free week,
“the red wine had sevenfold higher levels of
randomly allocated them to either drinking a large glass
of red wine (270ml), red wine with the alcohol removed, total phenols and four- to 13-fold higher levels
or gin (100ml) each day with their evening meal. After of specific resveratrol group compounds than
20 days they switched regimes. By the end, each the white wine”.
volunteer had followed each of the three different
The study found that drinking 14 units of
approaches. Throughout this experiment blood and
alcohol per week did not have any negative
stool samples were taken on a regular basis.
Compared to when they were alcohol-free, when effects on blood pressure, liver function tests
the volunteers were drinking red wine, and to a lesser or lead to increased fat gain – or at least effects
extent de-alcoholised wine, there were significant that were measurable. In fact, surprisingly
drops in blood pressure, in C-reactive protein (CRP
enough, sleep quality significantly improved
– a measure of inflammation) and in their triglyceride
in both of the wine-drinking groups, compared
levels (the amount of fat circulating in the blood).
There was also a marked change in their with the water-drinking group. Interestingly,
gut bacteria, with a the people who got the biggest benefit (and
particular increase in the only ones who saw improved blood sugar
Bacteroidetes, the type control) were those whose livers broke down
of bacteria associated
alcohol particularly slowly, meaning the alcohol
with slimness. PHOTOGRAPHY: NICK BALLON, ALAMY WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO THE HEREFORD ARMS KENSINGTON LONDON
They also noticed a hung around in their systems for longer. This
significant increase in suggests that although red wine contains
Bifidobacteria, which beneficial compounds, alcohol also plays a role.
are associated with
All that said, it’s only fair to point out
lowering cholesterol.
that this was a smallish study done for a
relatively short period of time and with a
particular group of people – type 2 diabetics.
For these reasons, the researchers were rightly

Research suggests keen to emphasise that the results should
red wine can be be treated with caution. It adds, however, to
beneficial to health –
but in modest doses what I think is compelling evidence that the

34 BBC SCIENCE FOCUS MAGAZINE COLLECTION