New Study Says Wine Drinkers are Just Healthier
People
By Mallie Paschall, Ph.D.
Jun 6, 2005
Is Wine good for your health? New study says wine
drinkers are just healthier people
(HealthNewsDigest.com).. BERKELEY, CA – The wine industry
wants people to believe that wine itself is good for your health. But new
research shows instead that wine drinkers simply live healthier lifestyles than
beer drinkers, liquor drinkers or non-drinkers.
Wine drinkers exercise more, eat healthier diets, smoke less and have more
normal body mass than people whose preference is beer or mixed drinks, according
to research from the Prevention Research Center. Wine drinkers are more likely
to be vegetarians, and they also have higher education levels, which has been
associated with better health. Wine drinkers also don’t drink as much as other
drinkers, and so they have fewer alcohol-related problems than people whose
preference is beer or liquor. In several health categories, such as body mass,
diet and exercise, wine drinkers are healthier than people who don’t drink at
all.
The research is published in the June issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol
Dependence and was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism.
The wine industry has pushed for health benefits on labels, based on studies
suggesting that light-to-moderate wine consumption may reduce risk for coronary
disease and other health problems. But such research may not look at the whole
picture.
“The notion that wine itself has health benefits fails to take into account a
host of other factors, including that wine drinkers apparently live healthier
lifestyles,” said Mallie Paschall, Ph.D., the principal investigator on the
study. “Our finding that there’s a relationship between wine preference and
healthy lifestyles raises questions about those studies that propose health
benefits from wine itself.”
Dr. Paschall is a senior research scientist at the Berkeley, CA-based Prevention
Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, a
nationwide nonprofit public health research and program institute. The study,
entitled “Wine preference and related health determinants in a U.S. national
sample of young adults,” examined data collected from nearly 13,000 people who
participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
“Evidence from this and other studies raises doubts about the protective
effects of wine,” Dr. Paschall said. “The research strongly suggests that
adults who are light-to-moderate wine drinkers develop healthy lifestyle habits
as adolescents and young adults before they become regular wine drinkers.” Dr.
Paschall also said that only a long-term controlled study can determine whether
light-to-moderate wine consumption actually has any beneficial health effects.
But such a study is probably not feasible, he said.
