The health benefits of wine

Epidemiologic studies from numerous disparate populations reveal that indiv iduals with the habit of daily moderate wine consumption enjoy significant reductions in all-cause and particularly cardiovascular mortality when comp ared with individuals who abstain or who drink alcohol to excess. Researche rs are working to explain this observation in molecular and nutritional ter ms. Moderate ethanol intake from any type of beverage improves lipoprotein metabolism and lowers cardiovascular mortality risk. The question now is wh ether wine, particularly red wine with its abundant content of phenolic aci ds and polyphenols, confers additional health benefits. Discovering the nut ritional properties of wine is a challenging task, which requires that the biological actions and bioavailability of the >200 individual phenolic comp ounds be documented and interpreted within the societal factors that strati fy wine consumption and the myriad effects of alcohol alone. Further challe nge arises because the health benefits of wine address the prevention of sl owly developing diseases for which validated biomarkers are rare. Thus, alt hough the benefits of the polyphenols from fruits and vegetables are increa singly accepted, consensus on wine is developing more slowly. Scientific re search has demonstrated that the molecules present in grapes and in wine al ter cellular metabolism and signaling, which is consistent mechanistically with reducing arterial disease. Future research must address specific mecha nisms both of alcohol and of polyphenolic action and develop biomarkers of their role in disease prevention in individuals.