A report from the American College of Cardiology shows that drinking wine in moderation is better for your heart than not drinking – and it's also better for your heart than beer, cider or spirits.
Most studies on the relationship between alcohol and health do not distinguish between types of alcohol. But that's because most researchers simply weren't looking. The data was always there to be found.
Now there's an interesting political dilemma for the wine industry. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) has done most of the heavy lifting in the battle against false health information about alcohol. But whiskey and vodka don't come off well in this study, and wine does. Can wine take up the fight alone?
The new study is based on the same records as many other studies: the UK Biobank, which keeps detailed records over time, in this case of 340,000 British adults between 2006 and 2022.
21 percent lower risk of dying
Here's the crucial statistic, as reported on Science Daily: "Moderate wine drinkers had a 21 percent lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared with never or occasional drinkers. In contrast, even low levels of spirits, beer or cider consumption were associated with a 9 percent higher risk of cardiovascular death compared with drinking never or occasionally." Moderate consumption was defined as 1.5 to 3 glasses of wine daily for men, and 0.75 to 1.5 glasses daily for women.
Zhangling Chen, MD, PhD, a professor at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University in China and the study's senior author, suggests three possible reasons that wine is healthier. First, red wine contains compounds that may provide cardiovascular benefits. Second, people tend to drink wine with food, whereas they tend to drink other types of alcohol without it. Third, wine may be preferred by people who eat healthier diets.
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