Public health officials and scientists continue to debate whether moderate drinking is harmful or beneficial. There is no debate that heavy drinking or binge drinking is harmful to health. Both are.
In the late 20th century, there was a flurry of studies that showed—and a 60-Minutes television segment that popularised the idea—that moderate drinking protected the heart.
Recent studies have questioned the cardioprotective effect of alcohol and indeed some note that any amount of alcohol increases the risk of developing cancer and is harmful to health.
A major problem with studies regarding alcohol and health is that they rarely distinguish the type of alcohol consumed—wine, beer, or spirits—and the pattern of drinking, that is, with or outside of meals.
Identifying key elements behind alcohol consumption and its context is vital because they directly affect blood alcohol levels which are suspected to cause either beneficial or detrimental health effects.
A significant and thorough study has recently tackled these concerns.
According to a new study conducted by researchers in Spain and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, consuming wine or wine with meals was linked to reduced mortality rates overall, particularly from cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
The research, published in JAMA Network Open, examined the drinking patterns of 135,000 residents of the UK over 60 from the UK Biobank database.
The researchers explored the impact of alcohol consumption on frail elderly people and those belonging to lower socioeconomic groups. They discovered that frail persons and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were at significantly higher risk of mortality if they consumed alcohol, particularly facing increased risks of death from cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The risk escalated with an increase in alcohol intake.
However, an interesting observation was made regarding individuals who predominately consumed wine and those who drank wine only during meals. In such cases, wine consumption seemed to mitigate the heightened risk associated with frailty and lower socioeconomic status.
Additionally, in individuals who were neither frail nor economically disadvantaged, consuming wine or restricting alcohol use to meal times correlated with a lower risk of mortality overall and also specifically from cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
While the chemical composition of alcohol in wine is identical to that in vodka and other spirits, the quantity absorbed into the bloodstream can vary based on the consumed concentration and the context.
Despite the increasing alcohol content in wine from using riper grapes, it still contains a lower alcohol concentration compared to spirits. Generally, wine is also drunk more slowly and often accompanied by food, both factors that can help moderate the level of alcohol in the blood.
Therefore, it appears that people who predominantly consume wine, especially with meals, and thus likely maintain lower blood alcohol concentrations, tend to exhibit better health outcomes than those with different alcohol consumption habits.
However, it’s critical to note that the findings from studies like these highlight correlations rather than causation. It cannot be definitively said from this research that drinking wine during meals directly contributes to a lower risk of death, cancer, or cardiovascular disease.
Whether the reduction in death is due to wine itself or the characteristics of individuals who drink wine moderately with meals—often more affluent and possibly having better health habits overall—remains uncertain.
However, this correlation might be a reason for wine enthusiasts to celebrate.
Michael Apstein, MD, FACG, a connoisseur of wine, contributor to Decanter, and an assistant professor of medicine (Gastroenterology) at Harvard Medical School.