Since the so-called French paradox emerged in the 1980’s, wine writers with rosé-colored glasses have been extolling the positive health effects of wine.
The French paradox if you recall pointed to the fact that a culture that seems to live on butter, cream, and cheese are nevertheless able to maintain healthy body weight and suffer comparatively less heart disease. One explanation was that they were getting some benefit from the copious amount of wine they used to drink. (Wine consumption in France has dropped precipitously since then.)
Then it was discovered that resveratrol, a substance found in red wine, had a variety of health promoting effects which seemed to explain the French paradox, and so the wine community was off to the races proclaiming the benefits of moderate wine consumption.
Although resveratrol does seem to have positive health effects, the proper dose has never been established and the association of moderate drinking with improved health from other forms of alcohol may mean the health benefits have nothing to do with resveratrol.
It would surely be a life affirming revelation if it turned out drinking wine was good for you. Wine drinkers can surely be forgiven for donning the rosé-colored glasses given there has been some evidence for it.
Alas, it appears not to be the case that wine has positive health effects; the good news is that moderate consumption doesn’t seem to do harm.
This meta-study released last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association should no association with moderate wine drinking and beneficial health outcomes. Here is their summary:
This systematic review and meta-analysis of 107 cohort studies involving more than 4.8 million participants found no significant reductions in risk of all-cause mortality for drinkers who drank less than 25 g of ethanol per day (about 2 Canadian standard drinks compared with lifetime nondrinkers) after adjustment for key study characteristics such as median age and sex of study cohorts. There was a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality among female drinkers who drank 25 or more grams per day and among male drinkers who drank 45 or more grams per day.
The appropriate caution regarding this conclusion should be taken. Meta-analyses are no better than the underlying studies they summarize and the devil is always in the details regarding which studies were admitted and which were excluded.
However, the plausibility of positive health outcomes from drinking wine has suffered.
Thankfully, as well know, the psychological benefits of drinking wine are enormous. That should be all the justification we need.
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 