On 17 November 1991, CBS News aired 'The French Paradox' on United States magazine program 60 minutes. Within months red wine consumption in the States had increased by 44 percent. The leviathan had stirred…

The documentary's Dr Curtis Ellison of Boston University School of Medicine revealed findings that linked French dietary habits and that nation's red wine intake with a low incidence of coronary related illness in its citizens.

At the time the US consumer price index for wine had dropped below that of beer and spirits despite rising per capita disposable income in the '80s and early '90s.

Fact or fiction?

Further impeding consumption gains were the raising of the legal drinking age across the union to 21 years in the late '80s, fitness/lifestyle trends of the decade, obligatory sulfite and warning declarations on labels and lower blood-alcohol requirements for drink-driving offences. Dr Ellison's research came as a godsend.

Industry reaction to the spin-offs was not confined to the USA. Medical research into the drink's beneficial properties was now burgeoning around the globe making for big business.

In the years subsequent to Dr Ellison's findings many of those advancing rosy data on wine's vitality benefits had vested interests in the wine game. As a result not all evidence linking the beverage to everything from cancer remission to fertility treatment was and is entirely credible. Where believers and detractors meet today is on moderation. What are the facts?

Why wine and not beer or spirits?

Evidence suggests that alcohol — in any guise — consumed in moderation, has a favourable effect on blood lipid counts. Almost all research confirms this.

In moderation it increases good cholesterol (HDL) and reduces LDL (the lipoprotein directly linked to atherosclerosis or clogging of the arteries). Of the other more quantifiable upshots are reduction in blood pressure, better coronary blood circulation and lower insulin levels.

What sets wine apart is its high concentrations of polyphenols (chemicals responsible for taste and colour), densities higher than those found in all other alcoholic beverages.

Ellison extrapolates further data gleaned on animal testing where red wine in particular "contributed less to coronary atherosclerosis than any other licensed beverage — 40 percent of coronary arteries with lesions compared with 67 percent for white wine, 83 percent for whisky and 100 percent for beer" in a report published in US trade publication Wines & Vines, March 1992.

Flavanoid of the month when polyphenols are considered are oligomeric procyanidins. These proffer the greatest cardio-protective benefits principally to blood-vessel cells. In significant findings by Professors Roger Corder from London's Queen Mary's William Harvey Research Institute, and Alan Crozier of Glasgow University, particular styles of wine, specific to certain European appellations, hold even greater cardio-protective qualities.

Courtesy of...

Wine Magazine

International weekly science journal, Nature, published the pair's conclusions in 2006. "The traditional production methods used in Sardinia and Southwestern France ensure that the beneficial compounds, procyanidins, are efficiently extracted. This may explain the strong association between consumption of traditional tannic wines with overall wellbeing, reflected in greater longevity."

Conversely, excessive phenolic ripeness typically present in grapes harvested later, the consequent higher sugars, higher alcohols and softer, ripe tannins so in vogue stylistically, possess far fewer procyanidins.

But don't jettison New World Shiraz to only consume Tannat from France's Madiran. Winemakers ultimately influence style and any approach that supports full extraction — harvesting times, lees contact, fining and filtration — should suffice, irrespective of the varietal.

Resveratrol: Of mice and man

Hailed as the latest cure-all to emerge from recent research, resveratrol, is a compound found naturally in the skins of red grape varieties — a phytoalexin to be precise, with antibacterial and anti-fungal properties that battle pathogens.

Punting the wonder drug, online resource www.resveratrol.com claims life extension, diabetes control, heart health, increased endurance, weight-loss, the prevention of cancer and Alzheimer's among its many benefits.

Their data and those cited by all pharmaceutical heavies is derived from two seminal analyses of resveratrol by the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France and conclusions published by Harvard Medical School's Dr David Sinclair.

The French investigation revealed dramatic metabolic improvement in mice due to resveratrol's stimulation of mitochondria, the energy centre of cells. Mice ran twice as far on a slower resting heart rate. Project leader Dr Auwerx: "resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training".

Sinclair's findings on the other hand possess greater diagnostic value. Rodents on lower doses of resveratrol than those in the French study displayed decreased insulin sensitivity, an aversion to weight gain despite high-calorie diets and lived remarkably longer than control sample subjects.

What tempers enthusiasm somewhat is that red wine itself is a pretty poor conduit of resveratrol, in spite of what some wine farms would have you believe. Amounts of the compound present in a typical red table wine are so diluted that to absorb worthwhile doses one would need to consume around 1000 litres of wine daily!

The lily-livered can opt for concentrated synthetic versions of the compound that are being marketed in pill form. Even so, there are some red wines that have naturally higher amounts of resveratrol. Muscadines — wine made from grapes endemic to Mexico and the south-western states of the US are peculiarly rich in resveratrol.

These wines are not easily attainable outside of the United States and are seldom made with any accomplishment. Inexplicably, evidence does suggest however that any Spanish red wine comes a close second to concentrations found in Muscadines. Count Tuscan, Bordeaux and the reds of Piedmont amongst wines with the lowest concentrations of resveratrol.

A healthy sense of occasion…

More generally, Ellison's findings were based on wine consumption as one constituent in French/Mediterranean eating habits — levels of saturated fats and sugar intake were also variables in his final conclusions.

His research into the beneficial effects of wine must be considered in relation to diet. That the optimal benefits of wine are experienced during meals is unchallenged.

The notion of consuming alcohol, let alone wine during the day, remains largely a Western Anglo-Saxon taboo. Simply put, spacing the two to three glass RDA over two or three smaller meals throughout the day provides the greatest benefit. Without the temperance you may very well be dying for a drink…

Ask the expert…

Celeste Naudé is a registered dietitian at the Nutrition Information Centre University of Stellenbosch (NICUS).

"International health guidelines tell us that the standard drink or portion of wine is 120ml or 60ml in the case of dessert wine. Red wine receptacles are large so an average red wine glass, half-filled, contains approximately 200ml of wine. This would provide for the following components on average:

"Research has shown that maximum cardiovascular benefit occurs at relatively low levels of intake of alcohol, namely one to two standard drinks a day in men (10–20g alcohol) and up to one a day in women (10g alcohol). In people who suffer from increased blood pressure, intake beyond these levels would be unwise. The best way for wine enthusiasts to enjoy their favourite Bordeaux blend would be to follow these guidelines and have a glass or two every day."

Pinpointing wine's positives

Brain In moderation wine reduces risk of ischemic strokes and degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer's. Measured consumption has been linked to fewer incidences of depression.

Eyes Blindness due to macular degeneration is reduced among moderate drinkers, moreover wine drinkers.

Heart Dramatic reductions in congestive heart attacks and can work even as a pre-emptive measure against second and third cardiac arrests.

Lungs Alcohol altogether does not increase one's chances of lung cancer and resveratrol is thought to reduce lung inflammation and the occurrence of chronic lung disease.

Stomach Wine consumption is the least likely of all alcoholic beverages to cause peptic ulcers and even destroys bacteria such as the H. pylori and salmonella bacteria that may increase susceptibility to ulcers.

Colon Moderate wine consumption poses no cancer threat and even in greater quantities folate intake can nullify this.

Ovaries and uterus Red wine's antioxidant qualities are attributed to lower incidences of ovarian cancer in moderate wine drinkers.