Are there health benefits to drinking red wine

It can even pose a threat to life. It is also advisable to skip wine for 1 or 2 days in between so that there is sufficient gap in drinking. However, this should be your total drinking limit and not for wine alone. It is not always necessary to consume wine by the glass alone. You can use it as an ingredient in your food or prepare a red wine sauce to go with your dinner and still reap the same benefits.

Red wine also has a host of other health benefits such as treating headaches, reducing calorie intake by killing the appetite, etc. If you are a wine lover you can use it to your own health benefits by consuming it in the right amounts. Although, there are other ways of staying healthy, wine enthusiasts can mend their drinking ways and ensure a better, disease free life.

Thanks to guest blogger Mark Davis for this post! Rich in antioxidants Before consuming a red wines you need to know to almost everything about a wine. Lowers bad cholesterol Red wines are known to lower the bad cholesterol in your system. Keeps heart healthy Not only does it regulate the cholesterol levels, but also keeps the heart healthy. But the observed benefits on gut health were found with just one glass of red wine per week, and anyone drinking more than two small glasses a day was excluded from the study.

Find out how your the bugs in your belly could heal your brain. A glass of red wine a night is associated with lower BMI and better gut health, but red wine drinkers may simply be healthier to begin with Credit: Getty Images.

The researchers also found that people who drank red wine had a lower body mass index BMI. This also could be why drinking red wine in moderation is associated with health. And randomised control trials, where participants are split into groups and their health measured as they follow different diets, can be particularly unethical when it involves alcohol. There have been a few randomised control trials — but these have been less than conclusive.

Another randomised control study from found that drinking ml of red wine again, the amount held in a champagne flute , can lower the risk of developing stroke and heart disease among people with diabetes. Research generally attributes any protective mechanism to resveratrol.

There has been increasing attention on resveratrol supplements in recent years. However, data on the effectiveness of resveratrol pills is conflicting. Bertelli argues that we need the alcohol component of wine to absorb resveratrol.

According to UK guidelines, which are among the most stringent globally, we should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week. While the research on any health benefits of wine is nascent, it is still largely agreed that the healthiest option is to abstain — and that red wine is the healthiest option for those who do drink. People may also experience alcohol poisoning and alcohol use disorder.

Heavy drinking is particularly harmful to health. Read more about the effects of alcohol on health here. The key is moderation. Regardless of the possible health benefits, drinking excess alcohol can do more harm than good.

Despite any possible benefits, official U. Is moderate drinking good for you? Read more here. Ultimately, many of the benefits linked to red wine are due to the beneficial properties of resveratrol. Eating grapes and berries may, therefore, be a more healthful option. Drinking red wine in moderation may have certain health benefits, including boosting heart, gut, and brain health.

This is because it contains compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and lipid-improving effects. Drinking alcohol is not safe for everyone, and drinking more than a moderate amount can cause serious health problems. Read the article in Spanish. Earlier studies conclude that drinking alcohol in moderation might be healthier than abstaining. A new study, however, overturns this theory. Alcohol has a dehydrating effect on the body, especially when a person consumes it in large amounts.

Learn more. Drinking a lot of alcohol can affect blood pressure in several ways. Learn more about alcohol and blood pressure in this article. Is red wine good for you? Benefits Can wine improve health? Warnings Should I drink it? Summary Red wine contains powerful antioxidants, and many sources claim that drinking it has health benefits.

Health benefits. Share on Pinterest Moderate consumption of red wine may have benefits for cardiovascular health. How might red wine improve health? Too much alcohol can have many harmful effects on your body. But if you already enjoy a glass of red wine with your evening meal, drinking it in moderation appears to help your heart.

Antioxidants in red wine called polyphenols may help protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart. A polyphenol called resveratrol is one substance in red wine that's gotten attention for its health benefits. Resveratrol might help prevent damage to blood vessels, reduce low-density lipoprotein LDL cholesterol the "bad" cholesterol and prevent blood clots. However, studies on resveratrol are mixed.

Some research shows that resveratrol could be linked to a lower risk of inflammation and blood clotting, which can lower your risk of heart disease. But other studies found no benefits from resveratrol in preventing heart disease. More research is needed to determine if resveratrol lowers the risk of inflammation and blood clotting.

The resveratrol in red wine comes from the skin of grapes used to make wine. Because red wine is fermented with grape skins longer than white wine, red wine contains more resveratrol. Simply eating grapes or drinking grape juice might be a way to get resveratrol without drinking alcohol. Red and purple grape juices may have some of the same heart-healthy benefits of red wine.

Peanuts, blueberries and cranberries also contain some resveratrol. It's not yet known how beneficial eating grapes or other foods might be compared with drinking red wine when it comes to promoting heart health. The amount of resveratrol in food and red wine can vary widely. Resveratrol supplements also are available. Researchers haven't found any harm in taking resveratrol supplements, but your body can't absorb most of the resveratrol in supplements.

There's still no clear evidence that beer, white wine or liquor aren't any better than red wine for heart health. Various studies have shown that moderate amounts of all types of alcohol benefit your heart, not just alcohol found in red wine. It's thought that alcohol:. The potential heart-healthy benefits of red wine and other alcoholic drinks look promising.

Those who drink moderate amounts of alcohol, including red wine, seem to have a lower risk of heart disease. However, it's important to understand that studies comparing moderate drinkers to nondrinkers might overestimate the benefits of moderate drinking because nondrinkers might already have health problems. More research is needed before we know whether red wine is better for your heart than other forms of alcohol, such as beer or spirits.