The fact that red wine is highly beneficial to our health is old news. Doctors have been advising us to drink wine, in a moderate quantity, every day. Scientific researches seemed to indicate that our heart profits especially from red wine consumption. A new study seems to point out that things are not cut out exactly as we have thought. The Czech scientist Milos Taborsky, present at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress, that took place in Barcelona, in August, bewildered the participants with his study “In Vino Veritas”.
His goal was to determine if red and white wine were both just as beneficial to our heart. Lately, scientific researches have seemed to point out that not only red wine, but alcohol itself, is good for the heart. Taborsky and his team studied a group of 146 men and women. These were healthy subjects, but with a low risk of suffering from atherosclerosis or CVD (cardiovascular disease). They were divided randomly into two groups: one was to drink only red wine, while the other one had to drink its white counterpart. The wines were brought over from a Czech winery. Women drank one or two glasses of wine a day, depending on their weight, while men drank up to three glasses a day. The subjects made no other changes in their daily routine.
Taborsky and his team were interested in the HDL (“good cholesterol”) and LDL (“bad cholesterol”) levels. Much to their surprise, after 12 months, in regard to the HDL levels, the scientists concluded that there was “no difference between white wine and red wine, and no change against the enrollment of previous studies”. As to the LDL levels, they “were lower for both red and white drinkers after one year, and total cholesterol was lower in the red group”.
Taborsky’s conclusion that “red and white wine produced the same results” was not the only surprise of his research. The scientist noticed that the HDL levels in people who exercised regularly, at least two times a week, were higher, regardless of the distinction between white and red wine. Taborsky’s study hints at the fact that alcohol itself is what makes the wine healthy. In the future, the Czech scientist is determined to find out if red and white wine consumption has any influence on people that exercise regularly and takes statins for CVD.
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