Is red wine good for heart?

Some studies show that wine, particularly red wine, can protect against heart disease more effectively than beer or liquor at equivalent levels of consumption. These studies however may overestimate the benefit of red wine in boosting heart health. More importantly, like other alcoholic beverages, red wine contains alcohol that causes cancer. It is therefore irrational to consume red wine for protecting your heart.

The French paradox

The French paradox is the observation of low coronary heart disease (CHD) death rates in spite of high intake of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat.¹The French paradox concept was formulated by French epidemiologists in the 1980s, and subsequently popularised by the wine industry. The latter attributes the phenomenon to the common use of red wine in the French diet. Some argue otherwise as the paradox can be attributed to the under-reporting of CHD in France.²

While some studies suggest red wine contains certain antioxidants that can help protect the heart, other evidence shows that people who drink wine over other alcoholic beverages also tend to live healthier lives. For example, drinkers who prefer wine tend to smoke less, drink less and have a healthier diet than those who prefer beer or liquor. So, these other factors, which may be regarded as hidden causes, rather than the red wine may in fact be responsible for the better health outcomes.

Antioxidant in red wine

On the promotion of red wine, resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, was commercially stressed as a possible explanation for the French Paradox. This is however controversial whereas red wine contains low levels of resveratrol. One liter of red wine, for example, only yields to around 0.3-2.1 mg of resveratrol.³The presence of resveratrol in human diets is almost negligible, so the role of resveratrol in explaining the French paradox may be overvalued.⁴

Prior to 2010, furthermore, most of the research on resveratrol's antioxidant and anti-platelet properties was done using test-tube or tissue-culture preparations. Since that time, some human trials have been conducted, but the evidence is not yet adequate to provide practical conclusions.⁵Research on Hong Kong older Chinese adults has not shown any benefit of drinking to heart health.⁶

Red wine can cause cancer

One thing is however certain: red wine, like other alcoholic beverages, contains alcohol that is linked to cancer. “Ethanol in alcoholic beverages” and “acetaldehyde associated with alcohol consumption” (acetaldehyde is the main metabolite of ethanol in the body) have both been classified as Group 1 carcinogens, the same category as tobacco smoke, ionising radiation and asbestos, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization.^Note

Epidemiologic studies have clearly indicated that alcohol drinking can cause cancers of oral cavity, pharynx (excluding nasopharynx), larynx, oesophagus, liver, colorectum, and female breasts. Alcohol’s carcinogenic effect is independent of the type of alcoholic beverages. In other words, the carcinogenic effect is the same for beer, wine or spirits. In fact, you can also have a healthy heart through a balanced diet, regular physical activity, no smoking and no drinking.

Note: The IARC classifications describe the strength of the scientific evidence about an agent being a cause of cancer, rather than assessing the level of risk. That is to say, even though alcohol and tobacco smoke are assigned to the same category, this does not imply they are at equal risk of causing cancer.