The Vin Note

7.22.2013, 17:29 PM

Wine linked to lower disease-related mortality risk in men: study

Mauro Pezzotta/shutterstock.com

Wine consumption among middle-aged men has been linked to lower mortality rate from heart disease and stroke.

A wide sweeping study has found a link between moderate wine consumption and a lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease and cancer among middle-aged men, lending more credence to the French paradox.

After following up with 35,292 men over about 28 years, researchers from the Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense and Bordeaux Segalen University in France found that when more than 50 percent of their alcohol consumption came from wine, subjects showed a lower risk of death from heart disease as well as lung, lip, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, bladder and rectal cancers.

RELATED: FOR PREGNANT WOMEN, ONE GLASS OF WINE A DAY IS FINE: STUDY

In numbers, moderate wine consumption was associated with a 40 percent reduced risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease, and a 20 percent reduced risk of death from cancer.

At the beginning of the study, subjects ranged in age from 40 to 65 years and hailed from Eastern France. In the end, a total of 4,035 deaths from cancer were recorded. Numbers for heart disease-related deaths were unavailable.

RELATED: EU APPROVES DRUG THAT CURBS THE URGE TO DRINK

The results of the study were presented at WineHealth in Sydney, Australia, which wrapped up over the weekend.

When it comes to the famous French paradox, however -- that long-standing belief that the health benefits of red wine negate the effects of the famously rich, high-fat diet and the risk of coronary heart disease -- the scientific community is divided.

A study printed the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health also suggested that drinking up to half a glass of wine a day can boost life expectancy in males by five years after studying the driking habits of randomly selected men over a 40-year period.

But another study out of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, for instance, found that resveratrol, the magic ingredient in red wine thought to improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of heart disease, had little effect in already healthy women. Though small, the study of 29 postmenopausal women found little health improvement in those who were given 75 mg of resveratrol daily -- a large amount equal to drinking 8 liters of red wine.

Vino Noir

Happy Hump day to you all! I raise my glass and toast to you. Cheers! 

The Vin Note!

If I asked you if you thought your tastes in wine could change over time, you’d probably think that was a silly question. Of course tastes in wine change! Yet, if you look at the wines you turn to over and over again as favorites, do you find yourself sticking with just a handful of tried and true varietals?

If you can name a food that you absolutely hated as a child, yet like very much today, you get a sense of changing tastes. At some point you re-tasted the detested food and were surprised to find that you actually liked it!

A number of factors affect our changing wine preferences, such as our ability to purchase finer wines, enjoy them in more varied settings, and pair them with a greater variety of foods.

There’s also some science behind this. The ability to taste, like any sensory organ’s ability, changes throughout our lives. As infants, we are turned off to bitter tastes and attracted to sweet tastes, as our “reptilian” brains equate bitter with dangerous poisons. Mothers’ milk is quite sweet. Pregnant women are also notoriously sensitive to changing flavors and smells, mostly due to fluctuating hormone levels. Also, one’s sense of smell is intricately linked to one’s ability to discern flavors, so things like loss of smell or a head cold can greatly affect the ability to enjoy flavors.

It is well known that all cells regenerate, but they do so much more slowly as we age. When we’re young, our taste buds are located not only on the tongue, but also on the roof (palate) of our mouths. Taste buds on the roof of the mouth are the first to die off, leaving the tongue bearing the brunt of the tasting work. The tongue unfortunately also bears the brunt of eating accidents: burning, scalding, accidental biting. These factors can affect the tongue’s ability to taste over time.

In light of the highly likely possibility that our tastes are changing, I encourage you to periodically try wines you’ve sworn off. A friend of mine who had sworn off Chardonnays was surprised to find that her favorite wine in a blind tasting was … a Chardonnay!

A blind tasting is the absolute best way to get an unbiased, unprejudiced chance to see if your wine tastes have changed. Enjoy a blind tasting in your favorite setting to enhance your experience and be surprised at what you discover about your new wine tastes! If you would like me to lead a blind tasting for you, I’d be happy to do that. Just let me know.

Cheers! 

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