In order to “advertise” alcoholic beverages as health-promoting, you need a certain audacity. After all, alcohol is not wrongly referred to as “devil’s alcohol”. At the latest, permanent, mass consumption damages the body, it is a neurotoxin and an addictive substance. And yet he’s not all bad. In moderation, it can also have positive effects. Health expert Tim Spector, a professor at King’s College in London, has once again broken a lance for alcohol. Wine, he says, strengthens the immune system.
Up to 85 percent water, plus alcohol, dyes and tanning agents, acid, proteins, vitamins, minerals, trace elements and sugar – all together it is wine. More magic is not. But it is precisely the polyphenols that make the wine, to put it bluntly, healthy. They are considered powerful antioxidants. These act against free radicals and protect the cells. Several studies have already shown that moderate consumption of wine can be beneficial for heart health. Its circulation-enhancing effect can protect against cardiovascular disease and diabetes, even improve mental health. But that’s not all. On the Wine-Blast podcast, Spector spoke of the fact that wine is also good for gut health and promoting the population of “good” bacteria in the body.
According to Spector, wine should primarily be drunk for pleasure, and you should be happy to change the type of wine. “Don’t stick to the same wine, try hundreds or thousands of different grape varieties,” recommends the expert. Rare varieties in particular should also be included. Spector draws an analogy to healthy eating. If different grape varieties are on the menu, you also help different intestinal microbes. This in turn promotes bacterial diversity in the gut, which in turn is an indicator of good gut health.
However, the principle “a lot helps a lot” does not apply here. “If you drink too much alcohol, it has a toxic effect on gut microbes,” says Spector. In this case, too much means: half a bottle of wine and more. One or two glasses are ideal. Since alcohol can also make sleep more restless, which is also bad for your health, the expert advises against drinking wine too late in the day. It makes more sense in the future to drink wine more as a kind of aperitif at the beginning of dinner “and not like me at the end with cheese and then overdo it,” says the scientist.
The “trick” doesn’t work with grape juice. Alcohol has to be added, because the polyphenols mentioned are only created during the fermentation process. And: Red wine lovers have an advantage. As early as 2019, scientists at King’s College found in a twin study that the participants who drank red wine had a greater diversity of gut microbiomes. The research team found no differences in white wine, beer and other spirits.
Source: Wine Blast, Telegraph, Study, Study 2
