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. 2009 Fall;18(3):111-7.
doi: 10.1055/s-0031-1278336.

Polyphenols are medicine: Is it time to prescribe red wine for our patients?

Alfredo C Cordova  1 , Bauer E Sumpio
Affiliations

Polyphenols are medicine: Is it time to prescribe red wine for our patients?

Alfredo C Cordova et al. Int J Angiol. 2009 Fall.

Abstract

Alcohol, specifically red wine, has been suggested to play a key role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and other chronic pathologies, including cancer. Its regular and moderate consumption has been found in numerous epidemiological studies to correlate inversely with vascular disease and mortality, despite the presence of risk factors such as high consumption of saturated fats, elevated smoking and low physical activity. This phenomenon, known as the 'French Paradox', would be explained mainly by the high levels of polyphenols present in red wine, making it more advantageous than beer, spirits and even white wine. The habit of having one or two drinks of red wine every day with meals may translate to a longer, healthier and better quality of life.

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Figures

Figure 1)
Figure 1)
Alcohol has protective effects against death from all causes (A), but excessive amounts of alcohol begin to have detrimental effects on overall health. A notable difference between the effects of alcohol on mortality due to cardiovascular disease (B) compared with all causes is that consuming three to five drinks per day is protective against death due to cardiovascular disease, but it has an increased RR of death due to other causes. One drink is defined as 15 mL of alcohol, which is equivalent to approximately 120 mL of wine (one half-glass), 355 mL of beer or 30 mL of spirits. Adapted from reference
Figure 2)
Figure 2)
Cardiovascular and cancer mortality, and alcohol consumption. This figure depicts cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality in relation to alcohol consumption by type. Note that France, while having the second highest consumption of wine in L/person/year (yr), has the second lowest CVD mortality. Adapted from references *, † and ‡
Figure 3)
Figure 3)
Components of table wine. Estimates of typical gross composition (percentage weight). *Phenols constitute the major compositional difference between red and white table wines. Water and ethanol content is similar for both types of wine (87% and 10%, respectively). Adapted from reference
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