Although some studies suggest drinking red wine may help protect against lung cancer, other studies claim excess amounts of wine may cause cancer. Further, those researchers against red wine consumption believe there is no solid evidence proving red wine helps fight cancer.
There is strong evidence that supports drinking large amounts of alcohol on a regular basis might actually increase the risk of cancers such as:
In a study involving 132 people with lung cancer and 187 hospital patients without the disease, researchers attempted to discover if there was a link between red wine and the reduction of lung cancer.
Researchers found that each group drank similar amounts of wine each day (three and a half glasses). The results revealed that just over a third of the lung cancer patients drank red wine compared to over half of the other patients. Researchers also concluded that while beer, spirits and rose wine did not affect the development of cancer, there did appear to be a connection between white wine and increased lung cancer risks.
Thus, the beneficial effects of red wine may boil down to tannins (a cell-protecting antioxidant) and resveratrol (which has been shown to smother the development and growth of tumors).
Based on their findings, researchers felt that it was more important to investigate the beneficial components of wine rather than promoting the consumption of it.
BBC News October 27, 2004
As stated in the above article, the real benefit of drinking red wine is resveratrol, a compound that naturally occurs in grapes and a few other plants. It is a known cancer fighter and belongs to a family of compounds known as polyphenols, which combat damaging free radicals in the body.
But before you go out and stock your pantry with red wine, there are some precautions that need to be taken.
While drinking about one glass of red wine each day may yield some benefit, drinking two or more glasses (of wine or any alcoholic beverage) may offset the benefit and actually INCREASE your risk of certain cancers. People with a history of alcohol abuse or liver disease should not drink alcohol at all. In addition, people with diabetes and hypertension should limit their intake of alcohol as well.
Moreover, you need to be aware that consuming large amounts of wine or grapes, which have a lower concentration of antioxidants than wine, will increase insulin levels and eventually have a negative impact on your health. It may even be beneficial to you to consume whole grape skins and pass up the meat of the grape, which has no resveratrol but a lot of extra fructose.
Additionally, it appears that drinking wine, or any alcohol, will inhibit your body’s ability to produce melatonin at night. Melatonin has many important functions in your body, like protecting against cancer and normalizing your other hormones. So from a hormonal perspective alone it would be wise to avoid wine.
But, if you simply insist on drinking red wine you need to check on the growing conditions of the grapes and how the wine is made. If the wine isn't made with organic grapes, it may not contain resveratrol, which will completely rule out the benefits of the wine.
In all honestly, I do not advocate drinking red wine at all. I am convinced the alcohol contained in it is poisonous and will unbalance your hormones.
I am currently looking into using grape pomace, which is a by-product of winemaking and is loaded with resveratrol and many other antioxidants. To the best of my knowledge it is not commercially available, though I will be seeking to find a source. In the meantime you can purchase resveratrol supplements, but my guess is that it would not actually be as good as the grape pomace which is likely to be less expensive and far more effective.
Related Articles:
The Real Story Behind The Benefits of Red Wine Why Red Wine May Help Your Heart It is Not the Alcohol in Wine That is Beneficial Grapes' Anti-fungal Agent May Fight Cancer Grape Skin Protein Kills Cancer Cells
The Real Story Behind The Benefits of Red Wine
Why Red Wine May Help Your Heart
It is Not the Alcohol in Wine That is Beneficial
Grapes' Anti-fungal Agent May Fight Cancer
Grape Skin Protein Kills Cancer Cells