Light and moderate wine consumption is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular complications, according to a multicenter study led by researchers from the University of Barcelona, the Hospital Clínic and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS), from Pathophysiology of Obesity and the Center for Biomedical Research in Nutrition Network (CIBEROBN) and the University of Navarra (UNAV). The study, published in the European Heart MagazineIt is based on the analysis of a biomarker of wine intake, specifically tartaric acid, present in grapes. It was carried out on 1,232 participants in the PREDIMED project, an important scientific epidemiological study in nutrition on the effects of the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular health.
According to the researchers, “there is no doubt that excessive alcohol consumption has serious health consequences. However, the effects of moderate and responsible wine consumption continue to be the subject of debate in the scientific community. The results of this study and “others should help to place moderate wine consumption in its rightful place as an element of the Mediterranean diet, considered the healthiest in the world.”
The main authors of the study are the researcher Inés Domínguez, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and the Nutrition and Food Safety Research Institute (INSA) of the UB; Professor Ramon Estruch, from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the UB and IDIBAPS; Rosa María Lamuela, professor and ICREA Academy, and member of INSA, and professor Miguel Ángel Martínez, from the University of Navarra (UNAV); all members of CIBEROBN.
Controversy over the effects of wine
Nowadays there is much controversy about the health effects of moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages in general and wine in particular. Ramon Estruch highlights that “part of this debate is due to contradictory results from studies that have indicated a protective effect of wine, while others have not found such an effect.” These differences could be explained by possible errors in wine consumption records. “Epidemiological studies evaluating the role of wine in the rate of cardiovascular events often rely on self-reported information about wine consumption. This is reliable data, but subject to measurement error due to inaccurate recall or biased perceptions about the social desirability of alcoholic beverage consumption,” he explains. In response to this problem, the researchers of this study measured wine consumption through food intake frequency surveys, which they confirmed with an objective biomarker: the concentration found in the urine of tartaric acid, a molecule produced mainly in grapes and rarely synthesized by others. plant species.
While excessive alcohol consumption has serious health consequences, a new multicenter study provides new evidence that drinking between half a glass of wine and a full glass of wine per day may help reduce the risk of heart problems.
A reduction from 38% to 50%
Using this methodology, the study analyzed wine consumption and cardiovascular outcomes in a cohort of PREDIMED patients. In total, 1,232 participants were evaluated, including 685 who had a cardiovascular event (cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or heart failure) and 625 who were randomly selected.
The analysis of the data shows that a light consumption of wine (between one glass per week and less than half a glass a day) reduces the risk of suffering a cardiovascular complication by 38%, but this reduction reaches 50% when consumption is moderate (between half a glass). glass and one glass per day). However, when consumption exceeds one drink a day, the protective effect disappears. The researchers also warn that “when we talk about moderate wine consumption, it is always with meals, never between meals.”
More studies to confirm the results
Despite these conclusions, Inés Domínguez points out that “the observational design of the study limits the ability to establish causality,” and experts point out that more research is needed: “The results of cohort studies should always be confirmed for greater certainty.” In this sense, they point out two possible courses of action. The first would involve the design of randomized nutritional intervention studies, randomly assigning participants to groups with different wine consumption. “These are very expensive studies. There is currently one underway, but the results will take between four and five years,” they add. The second would be to study the mechanisms of these protective effects of wine on the cardiovascular system, such as research on the anti-inflammatory power of wine polyphenols, such as resveratrol and other phenolic compounds. “Knowing the mechanisms gives a lot of plausibility to the results of epidemiological cohort studies,” they conclude.