12 BENEFITS OF RED WINE FOR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH - NUTRITION - 2025

The benefits of red wine are numerous; it has antioxidant power, helps reduce depression, prevents breast cancer, dementia and prostate cancer, and other nutritional properties that I will mention below.

Red wine has long been considered an alcoholic beverage with certain health benefits. Many believe that drinking a glass each day is part of a healthy diet, while others believe that red wine has been a bit overrated.

Scientific evidence has always shown that moderate red wine contributes to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, there is a fine line between moderate and excessive consumption.

What is a moderate consumption of red wine?

It is said that "moderate consumption" of red wine is good for health. But how much is a "moderate" consumption of wine?

The amount of wine recommended depends on many factors; the person's build, age, gender, body height, and general health, as well as whether red wine is drunk with food or on an empty stomach.

Women absorb alcohol more quickly than men due to their lower body water content and different levels of enzymes in the stomach. Therefore, moderate wine consumption is less for women than for men.

According to the "2010 American Dietary Guide" published by the United States Department of Agriculture, "if alcohol is consumed, it should be consumed in moderation - up to one glass a day for women and two glasses a day for men".

What are the health benefits of drinking wine?

Before mentioning these benefits, it is important to note that they have been proven when consumption is moderate.

1- Reduces the risk of depression

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A team from several universities in Spain published in the journal BMC Medicine that the consumption of wine can reduce the risk of contracting depression.

The researchers collected data on 2,683 men and 2,822 women between the ages of 55 and 80 over a seven-year period. The participants had to complete a questionnaire that included details about their alcohol consumption and their mental health.

The authors found that men and women who drank two to seven glasses of wine a week were less likely to be diagnosed with depression.

Even after taking into account the lifestyle factors that might influence their results, the risk of developing depression was still significantly lower.

2- Slows aging

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Monks believed that wine slowed down the aging process, today scientists do too.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School reported that red wine has anti-aging properties. Lead researcher David Sinclair maintains that "resveratrol improved the health of mice on a high-fat diet and increased their life expectancy."

Their findings, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, were the first convincing proof of the definitive relationship between the anti-aging properties of resveratrol and the SIRT1 gene.

Resveratrol is the compound responsible for this beneficial effect. It is found in the skin of red grapes, blueberries, berries, and walnuts.

The anti-aging properties of red wine have been known for over a thousand years. Monasteries across Europe were convinced that the lives of monks were longer, compared to the rest of the population, and that it was partly due to moderate and regular consumption of wine.

A study carried out at the University of London found that procyanidins, compounds commonly found in red wine, maintain healthy blood vessels and are one of the factors that contribute to a longer life, as is the case with the people of Sardinia and southwestern France.

The researchers also found that traditionally made red wine has much higher levels of procyanidins than other wines.

3- Prevents breast cancer

The sustained consumption of most alcoholic beverages increases the risk of developing breast cancer. However, drinking red wine has the opposite effect, according to the findings of researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The chemicals in the skins and seeds of red grapes lower estrogen levels, while increasing testosterone in premenopausal women, which translates to a lower risk of developing breast cancer. Not only red wine has beneficial compounds, but its raw material, the red grape.

4- Prevents dementia

Researchers at Loyola University Medical Center found that moderate consumption of red wine can contribute to a decreased risk of developing dementia.

In this study, the researchers collected and analyzed data from academic research on red wine beginning in 1977. The studies, which spanned 19 nations, showed a statistically significant lower risk of dementia among red wine drinkers from regular and moderate form in 14 countries.

The researchers explained that resveratrol reduces the viscosity of blood platelets, which helps keep blood vessels open and flexible. This helps maintain a good blood supply to the brain.

Lead researcher Professor Edward J. Neafsey stated that moderate red wine drinkers had a 23% lower risk of developing dementia compared to people who rarely or never drank the alcoholic beverage.

5- Protects against severe sunburn

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Derivatives of wine and grapes can help reduce the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation, according to scientists from the University of Barcelona, ​​in Spain, in the journal Food and Agricultural Chemistry.

The researchers concluded that flavonoids, found in wine and grapes, inhibit the formation of reactive oxygen species in sun-exposed skin.

6- Prevents diseases that cause blindness

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According to scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, red wine can stop the process called angiogenesis (opening of new blood vessels in the eye area), which leads to the development of blindness.

Diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness among Americans over 50, are caused by this angiogenesis in the eye.

Researchers explained that resveratrol is the compound in wine that protects vision.

7- Protects against damage after stroke

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Red wine may protect the brain from stroke damage, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Professor Sylvain Doré believes that resveratrol in red wine increases the levels of heme oxygenase, an enzyme known to protect nerve cells from damage in the brain. When someone has a stroke, the brain is primed to protect itself from rising enzyme levels.

8- Improves lung function and prevents lung cancer

Dutch scientists reported on a study that examined the effects of resveratrol, red wine, and white wine on lung function.

They found that:

• Red wine was good for lung function
• White wine was good for lung function too

One member of the study concluded "the beneficial effects on lung function are probably related to many compounds in wine, and not just resveratrol."

On the other hand, according to a study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, the intake of red wine can reduce the risk of lung cancer.

9- Increases the levels of omega-3 fatty acids

Wine is better than other alcoholic beverages in increasing the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in plasma and red blood cells, according to the IMMIDIET study with the participation of European researchers from various countries.

The study examined 1,604 adults from London, Abruzzo (Italy), and Limburg (Belgium). All underwent a complete medical examination with a general practitioner and also completed an annual frequency of consumption questionnaire that included details of their eating habits.

They found that moderate wine drinkers had higher blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which are generally derived from eating fish. Omega-3 fatty acids are known to protect against coronary heart disease.

Scientists found that wine consumption acts as a trigger, increasing the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the body.

10- Prevents liver disease

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A study carried out at the University of California, San Diego, concluded that moderate wine consumption reduced the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in half, compared to people who never drank wine. Their finding challenged conventional thinking about alcohol consumption and liver health.

Researchers reported in the journal Hepatology that moderate beer or liquor drinkers had a four times greater risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease compared to wine drinkers.

11- Protects against prostate cancer

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Researchers in Seattle examined general alcohol consumption and found no relationship with prostate cancer risk.

However, when they went one step further and analyzed the different alcoholic beverages, a clear association was identified between drinking red wine and a lower risk of prostate cancer.

Even moderate consumption of red wine (one glass per week) lowered men's prostate cancer risk by 6%, the authors reported.

12- Prevents type 2 diabetes

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In an animal experiment, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that resveratrol improves insulin sensitivity. Insulin resistance is the most important critical factor contributing to the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers reported in the journal Cell Metabolism that resveratrol also increased levels of the SIRT1 enzyme, which improves insulin sensitivity in mice.

Study leader Qiwei Zhai said that red wine may have some benefits for insulin sensitivity, but this needs to be confirmed in further studies.