This is the reason why red wine can give you some health benefits – despite alcohol generally being bad for you
Dr Michael Mosley explained how a ‘glass of the grape can be great for the gut'(Image: ITV)
Health scientist Dr Michael Mosley is encouraging drinkers to switch their alcohol of choice – as one secret ingredient in red wine that can bring ‘surprising health benefits’. Dr Mosley took to his popular Just One Thing podcast on BBC Sounds to share how a compound in red wine can lower blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as reduce the risk of heart disease.
The diet whiz behind numerous books, TV shows and radio programmes told his listeners: “It’s a Friday evening, and to mark the end of a busy week, and my wife and I are going to be doing something that should protect our hearts and should give our gut bacteria a boost…”
“Now, red wine is my favourite alcoholic drink and, in fact, it’s pretty much the only alcohol I drink. Not only because I like the taste and flavours, but also because it’s been shown to have some compelling health benefits.
“Sadly, alcohol itself is pretty bad for you. So if you don’t drink it at all, I’m not going to suggest you start now, but if you’re already a drinker then you might want to try swapping the occasional beer, cider, cocktail or spirit for red wine.”
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Red wine contains particularly high amounts of polyphenol – compounds produced by plants that have multiple beneficial effects, including lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart disease, lowering cholesterol, and benefiting your gut microbiome, said Dr Mosley. And you ‘don’t need to get a fancy bottle’, as ‘a small glass two or three days a week’ could bring you health benefits.
But the doctor warned to keep glasses small and that ‘if you drink every day of the week, you’re likely to soon slip over the level where it stops being beneficial and becomes harmful’. There is ‘no doubt that drinking alcohol is bad for you, so what is the basis for the claim that drinking red wine can actually have health benefits?’ he asked. It started with French research in the 1980s which led to the discovery of the ‘French paradox’.
Red wine is the subject of many scientific studies(Image: PA)
The paradox is that despite consuming far more saturated fats than Americans, the French have lower rates of heart disease. Scientists wondered if red wine had anything to do with that trend, but it ‘sounded too good to be true, and it probably was’, said Dr Mosley.
“The reason that heart disease in France is relatively low is more to do with the fact that they eat lots of fruits and vegetables and oily fish. But in 2015, there came a fascinating study from Israel,” Dr Mosley added.
Red and white wine were compared with mineral water with participants eating their evening meals. Red wine drinkers came out on top, explained Dr Mosley, with ‘significant improvements in their cholesterol scores and the quality of their sleep, some also enjoyed better blood sugar control and there were no significant side effects’.
Another study in Spain found that drinking red wine can improve your body’s response to insulin, meaning your body can clear sugar more quickly. Studies also show that having wine with a meal and in moderation is much better for you than drinking it at other times.
Professor Tim Spector
One of the ways polyphenols in red wine might benefit us is from the impact on our gut bacteria, says Dr Mosley. The presenter was then joined by another popular diet expert, Professor Tim Spector, who explained how a ‘glass of the grape can be great for the gut’.
The professor of epidemiology at King’s College London said he and his colleagues launched a study after being fascinated by the fact that red wine seemed to be protective for heart disease, whereas overall alcohol has always generally been bad for longevity and heart disease. The study found red wine drinkers had a healthier, more diverse gut microbiome than non-drinkers, which means there are more species available in the gut.
Some may not know about these benefits(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
More species means the gut becomes a ‘living pharmacy’ that’s able to produce much more healthy chemicals crucial in helping metabolism, immune system and digestion.
Modest amounts of red wine might be good for you, but it’s nuanced, added the expert. Generally, alcohol isn’t good for microbes. “We’re definitely not saying that alcohol itself is good for you,” said Professor Spector.
“What we did show in our study is that once you start getting to three glasses of red wine per day on average, you lose any benefit…
“[But in red wine] it’s the fact that wine comes from grapes, in the skin of the grape there are these defence chemicals called polyphenols. And red wine has three times more polyphenols than, say, white wine.
“The fermenting process itself actually increases the number of polyphenols.”
Looking at the studies, one glass of red wine with a meal could be a ‘reasonable dose’ for most people, says Professor Spector. “But people have different size glasses, some of the glasses they get in nowadays pubs are enormous,” he continued.
“We’re talking about traditional French wine glasses where you’d get six to a bottle. The important thing is that we can manipulate our gut microbes, make ourselves healthier by altering our diet and lifestyle, and that’s a really powerful message.”