By: Thomas Pickering, MD, DPhil, FRCP, Director of Integrative and Behavioral Cardiology Program
of the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

The French have long maintained that the solution to the 'French conundrum' - the observation that they have a high-fat diet but a low death rate from heart disease - is due to the protective effects of red wine. This analysis reviewed all the available evidence relating alcohol intake to the risk of getting heart disease. There were in total 25 studies, involving more than 300,000 men and women in over 30 countries.

Overall, there was consistent evidence for the protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption against heart disease, but there was no clear advantage from drinking wine over drinking beer or spirits. The effect has been observed in countries where most of the alcohol is consumed as wine, as well as in countries where it is consumed mostly in the form of beer and spirits. In other words it appears to be the alcohol itself rather than the type of drink that is important.

Doctor's comments

This is perhaps the most definitive analysis of the protective effect of alcohol to date. Although it has been proposed that there are additional ingredients in wine that may be protective for the heart, this analysis suggests that it is the alcohol itself. The benefits can be obtained with one or two drinks a day, and more than this does more harm than good. Moderation is the key.

Where it was published