GET LIT

So we talked about something useful the other day in the hospital. A group of physicians recently put out this study attempting to explain the extreme differences in heart disease and cancer between the French and American cultures. Basically, the question they want to address is: "Why do the French have such a lower incidence of heart disease and diabetes, when they drink all day long, smoke like fiends, and eat buttery danishes like constantly?"
I know what your thinking, you could easily point your finger at the great American golden arches and feel content with your assessment........But the francaise have la Ronald too. In fact this group of researchers went for a much different route. They claim that the huge difference in red wine consumption in the French diet accounts for a multitude of advantages that are directly related to survival. According to their 10 year study, consumption of 3-4 glasses of red wine per day decreases your relative risk of dyeing (of any cause...Including DUIs) by 0.51. Basically that means you are twice as likely to live through the next ten year if you do it with a bottle in your hand.
Interestingly, these same values were not associated with white wine, beer, and liquor. It seems that fermenting the skins of the grapes along with the grape juice, allows the alcohol to extract polyphenoic substances from the skins. Thus, these substances cannot be extracted from white wine, beer or liquor. White wine and beer did show some increase in survival rates, at about half that of red wine. Liquor showed a decrease in survival.
One problem with this study is that it only looks at 10 year survival. Unfortunately, if you drink 5 glasses of wine/day for longer than 10 years your looking at liver disease. However, I believe it underscores the importance of moderate alcohol consumption as a cardiovascular disease deterrent. Maybe 1-2 glasses would be a better compromise. Either way: Boozing is good for you.....Just don't booze too much.
Reference: Journal of American College of Surgeons 2005 page 428.

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