How are we to know what health advice to believe any more?
New study that finds drinking any amount of red wine is harmful contradicts earlier research
It is impossible to know what’s healthy and unhealthy any more. Foods are so often vilified and then redeemed, suddenly going from zero to hero and back again. Eggs, milk, butter and pork all used to be deemed too high in fat or cholesterol and we were told we should limit our intake. But some nutritional guidelines are OK with them. And consuming fats can help us absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K.
However, that glass of red wine you are having with your butterfried pork schnitzel? Maybe you should put a hold on it. New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests all alcohol, including red wine, is harmful when consumed in any amount.
I remember before the ’90s, health authorities launched campaigns against the overconsumption of booze. Studies were published purporting a steady rise in deaths from drink-driving, excessive drinking, cirrhosis, and cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and liver. People who downed more than one alcoholic drink a day were deemed to have a greater chance of dying from injuries, suicide, poisoning and haemorrhagic stroke.
Then, around the turn of the millennium, researchers zeroed in on the topic and re-concluded that a single glass of red wine a day wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – and that it seemed to help reduce cardiovascular risks and coronary diseases. Red wines, which include the grape skins as part of the winemaking process, apparently possessed healthenhancing antioxidants.
“Let’s drink up!” we all happily cheered.
Unfortunately, the party poopers are back again. The new study’s researchers, from the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, propose that even vino is not as healthy as we think.
Four specific points are noted in their conclusion:
• Even moderate alcohol consumption leads to poorer, not better, cardiovascular health
• All booze – even red wine – leads to increased cancer risk
• Alcohol worsens sleep quality
• You would have to drink gallons of wine every day to gain any meaningful benefit from its antioxidants
As the goalposts for good eating and dieting move again, it is frustrating to definitively sort out what we should put in our body.
It does not help that the Hong Kong government is equally confused. It wants the city to be a wine hub but then launches a campaign warning that alcohol causes cancer.
To end my red whine, I prefer to reframe this argument: if it requires large amounts of red wine to achieve any antioxidant benefit, does it not stand to reason that you would also have to consume multiple barrels of Barolo for any real harm to occur?
As the goalposts move again, it is frustrating to sort out what we should put in our body