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Red wine and resveratrol: Good for your heart?

Red wine and something in red wine called resveratrol might be heart healthy. Find out the facts, and hype, regarding red wine and its impact on your heart.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Red wine, in moderation, has long been thought of as heart healthy. The alcohol and certain substances in red wine called antioxidants may help prevent heart disease by increasing levels of "good" cholesterol and protecting against artery damage.

While the news about red wine might sound great if you enjoy a glass of red wine with your evening meal, doctors are wary of encouraging anyone to start drinking alcohol. That's because too much alcohol can have many harmful effects on your body.

Still, doctors do agree that something in red wine appears to help your heart, though it's unclear just exactly what that "something" is. Researchers think antioxidants, such as flavonoids or a substance called resveratrol, have promising heart-healthy benefits.

Antioxidants aren't the only substances in red wine that look promising. The alcohol in red wine also appears to be heart healthy. Find out what's known — and not known — about red wine and its possible heart-health benefits.

How is red wine heart healthy?

Research studies on the heart-health benefits of red wine have reported mixed results. Some studies show that red wine seems to have even more heart-health benefits than other types of alcohol, while other studies show that red wine isn't any better than beer, white wine or liquor for heart health. There's still no clear evidence yet that red wine is superior to other forms of alcohol when it comes to possible heart-health benefits.

The studies supporting red wine suggest antioxidants in red wine called polyphenols help protect the lining of blood vessels in your heart. These antioxidants come in two main forms: flavonoids and nonflavonoids.

  • Flavonoids. These antioxidants are found in a variety of foods, including oranges, grape juice, apples, onions, tea and cocoa. Other types of alcohol, such as white wine and beer, contain small amounts, too, but red wine has higher levels.
  • Nonflavonoids. These antioxidants found in red wine have recently been of particular interest because they appear to help prevent arteries from becoming clogged with fatty blockages. However, these studies mostly involved mice — not humans. Resveratrol is the nonflavonoid that's received the most attention from researchers.

Resveratrol in red wine

Resveratrol might be a key ingredient in red wine that helps prevent damage to blood vessels, reduces "bad" cholesterol and prevents blood clots.

Most research on resveratrol has been conducted on animals, not people. Research in mice given resveratrol has indicated that the antioxidant might also help protect them from obesity and diabetes, both of which are strong risk factors for heart disease. However, those findings were reported only in mice, not in people. In addition, to get the same dose of resveratrol used in the mice studies, a person would have to consume 100 to 1,000 bottles of red wine a day.

Some research shows that resveratrol could be linked to a reduced risk of inflammation and blood clotting, both of which can lead to heart disease. More research is needed before it's known whether resveratrol was the cause for the reduced risk.

Some companies sell supplements containing resveratrol. However, not enough is known about resveratrol's effects to endorse resveratrol supplements. Research into the potential heart-health benefits of resveratrol is continuing.

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References
  1. Alcohol, wine and cardiovascular disease. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4422. Accessed Feb.2, 2009.
  2. Szmitko PE, et al. Red Wine and Your Heart. Circulation. 2005;111:e10.
  3. Gresele P, et al. Resveratrol, at concentrations attainable with moderate wine consumption, stimulates human platelet nitric oxide production. Journal of Nutrition. 2008;138:1602.
  4. Saremi A, et al. The cardiovascular implications of alcohol and red wine. American Journal of Therapeutics. 2008;15:265.
  5. Das S, et al. Experimental evidence for the cardioprotective effects of red wine. Experimental Clinical Cardiology. 2007;12:5.
  6. O'Keefe JH, et al. Alcohol and cardiovascular health: The razor-sharp double-edged sword. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2007;50:1009.
  7. Kloner RA, et al. To drink or not to drink? That is the question. Circulation. 2007;116:1306.
  8. Your guide to lowering blood pressure: Limit alcohol intake. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/prevent/l_alcohol/l_alcohol.htm. Accessed Feb. 2, 2009.
  9. Anselm E, et al. Grape juice causes endothelium-dependent relaxation via a redox-sensitive Src- and Akt-dependent activation of eNOS. Cardiovascular Research. 2007;73:404.
  10. Resveratrol. Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State Unversity. http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/resveratrol/. Accessed Feb. 2, 2009.

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March 20, 2009

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