No conclusive proof red wine good for the heart: Study

Some of the research also shows that having one drink a day may be beneficial, but anything more than that cancels out the positive effects.
Photograph by: File, AFP

TORONTO — A glass of red wine a day may not actually keep the doctor away, according to a study by Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Researchers there have found that a widely held belief linking low amounts of alcohol consumption with heart disease prevention is still inconclusive.

Even worse, enjoying your favourite beverage may be detrimental to fighting other diseases, including several cancers, says the review, which looked at 44 international studies dating back over the last 20 years.

"Basically, the takeaway point is: if you want to do something good for your health stop smoking, take a little walk, go to the gym," said the study's lead author, Dr. Juergen Rehm, on Monday. "Alcohol is not the best way."

Rehm, the centre's director of social and epidemiological research, decided to launch the review to see if there was any truth behind the theory whether seemingly low rates of heart disease in France can be explained by the country's love for wine.

His finding: It can't.

In the analysis, researchers examined 38,627 incidents related to heart disease (including deaths) involving 957,684 people in Canada, the U.S., Asia, and South America. What they found was a "huge variability" in the results.

"Once you look at all of the results for the planet, so to speak, then something that looked dead solid based on one study or two studies looks a little bit more shaky," said Rehm. "Our conclusion is not that there's no protective effect of alcohol on the heart, but that the amount of this effect is still pretty shaky."

Some of the research also shows that having one drink a day may be beneficial, but anything more than that cancels out the positive effects.

"If someone binge drinks even once a month, any health benefits from light to moderate drinking disappear," he said.

And having excessive amounts of alcohol also increased heart disease-related incidents and the likelihood of a variety of cancers including mouth, pharynx and liver.

An increase in mortality and morbidity rates was also found in people who had as little as four drinks on one occasion for women and five drinks for men, says the study.

Overall, researchers found that women were more at risk for heart disease and other ailments by drinking.

The study was published online earlier this month in the Journal of Addiction.