WINE, BEER AND SPIRITS CONSUMPTION AND CARDIOVASCULAR-DISEASES

The inverse relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) was shown in most epidemiological investigations, Several studies showed that the protective effect of ethanol due to it's influence on both lipid metabolism and thrombotic mechanism, However, alcoholic beverages are an heterogenous group with differences in their composition and consumption pattern. Also intake of spirits, beer and wine can have different effects on cardiovascula r disease, In this review we examined the relation between consumption of specific alcoholic beverages and reduction of cardiovascular disea se risk by comparing the results of published reports from ecological, case control and cohort studies. Prospective studies were eliminated when they did not analyse the effect of the three types of alcoholic b everages because of negligible consumption of one or two of them. Wine consumption is shown to have a more favourable effect against cardiov ascular disease than spirits and beer consumption in most cohort and e cological studies. Beneficial effect of moderate consumption might be attributed to specific phenolics components present in wine but not in beer or spirits. This hypothesis seems to be confirmed by in vitro an d in vivo recent studies attributing this health benefices to the anti oxidant activity of phenolic compounds.