The issue of wine and health is a topic of considerable discussion and research. Wine has a long history of use as an early form of medication, being recommended variously as a safe alternative to drinking water, an antiseptic for treating wounds and a digestive aid, as well as a cure for a wide range of ailments from lethargy and diarrhea to easing the pain of child birth.
Ancient Egyptian Papyri and Sumerian tablets dating back to 2200 BC detail the medicinal role of wine, making it the world's oldest documented man-made medicine. Wine continued to play a major role in medicine until the late 19th and early 20th century, when changing opinions and medical research on alcohol and alcoholism cast doubt on the role of wine as part of a healthy lifestyle and diet.
In the late 20th and early 21st century, fueled in part by public interest in reports by the U.S. news broadcast 60 Minutes on the so-called "French Paradox", the medical establishment began to re-evaluate the role of moderate wine consumption in health. Studies have since shown positive benefits of the phenolic compound resveratrol with continued research attempting to better understand its functions in wine and the body.
Historical role of wine in medicine
See also: History of medicineEarly medicine was intimately tied with religion and the supernatural, with early practitioners often being priests and magicians. Wine's close association with ritual made it a logical tool for these early medical practices. Tablets from Sumerian culture and papyri from Ancient Egypt dating to 2200 BC include recipes for wine based medicines, making wine the oldest documented man made medicine.
Early history
When the ancient Greeks introduced a more systematized approach to medicine, wine still retained its prominent role. The Greek physician Hippocrates recommended wine as a part of a healthy diet and advocated its use a disinfectant for wounds, as well as a medium to mix other drugs in for easier consumption by the patient. He also prescribed wine as a cure for various ailments ranging from diarrhea and lethargy to pain during childbirth. The medical practices of the ancient Romans involved the use of wine in a similar manner. In his 1st century work De Medicina , the Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus detailed a long list of Greek and Roman wines used for medicinal puropses. While treating gladiators in Asia Minor, the Roman physician Galen would use wine as a disinfectant for all types of wounds, even soaking exposed bowels before returning them to the body. During his four years tending to the gladiators only five deaths occurred, compared to sixty deaths under the watch of the physician before him.
Religion still played a significant role in promoting wine's use for health benefit. The Talmud noted wine to be "the foremost of all medicines: wherever wine is lacking, medicines become necessary." In his first epistle to Timothy, Paul the Apostle recommended that his young colleague drink a little wine every now and then for the benefit of his stomach and digestion. While the Islamic Koran contained restrictions on all alcohol, Islamic doctors such as Avicenna in the 11th century AD noted that wine was an efficient digestive aid but because of Islamic laws were limited only in using it as a disinfectant while dressing wounds. Catholic monasteries during the Middle Ages would also regularly use wine for various medical treatments. So closely tied was the role of wine and medicine that the first printed book on the subject of wine was written in the 14th century by a physician, Arnaldus de Villa Nova, with lengthy essays on wine's suitability for treatment of a variety of medical ailments such dementia and sinus problems.
Changing views highlight the risks of consumption
The lack of safe drinking water for much of history may have been one reason for wine's popularity in medicine. Wine was still being used to sterilize water as late as the Hamburg cholera epidemic of 1892 in order to control the spread of the disease. However the late 19th century and early 20th century ushered in a period of changing views on the role of alcohol and (by extension) wine in health and society. The Temperance movement began to gain steam by touting the ills of alcoholism, which was eventually defined by the medical establishment as a disease. Studies of the long and short-term effects of alcohol caused many in the medical community to reconsider the role of wine in medicine and diet. Public opinion turned against consumption of alcohol in any form, leading to Prohibition in the United States and other countries. In some areas wine was able to maintain a limited role, such as an exemption in the United States for "therapeutic wines" that were sold legally in drug stores. These wines were marketed for their medicinal benefits but some wineries used this measure as a loophole to sell large quantities of wine for recreational consumption. In response, the United States government issued a mandate requiring producers to include an emetic additive that would induce vomiting above the consumption of a certain dosage level.
Throughout the mid to early 20th century, health advocates pointed to the risk of alcohol consumption and the role it played in a variety of ailments such as blood disorders, high blood pressure, cancer, infertility, liver damage, muscle atrophy, psoriasis, skin infections, strokes, and long term brain damage. Studies showed a connection between alcohol consumption among pregnant mothers and an increased risk of mental retardation and physical abnormalities in what became known as fetal alcohol syndrome, prompting the use of warning labels on alcohol-containing products in several countries.
1990s: French Paradox and renewed interest in the benefits of consumption
The 1990s and early 21st century saw a renewed interest in the health benefits of wine, ushered in by increasing research suggesting that moderate wine drinkers have lower mortality rates than heavy drinkers or teetotalers. In November 1991, the U.S. news program 60 Minutes aired a broadcast on the so-called "French Paradox". Featuring the research work of Bordeaux scientist Serge Renaud, the broadcast dealt with the seemingly paradoxical relationship between the high fat/high dairy diets of French people and the low occurrence of cardiovascular disease among them. The broadcast drew parallels to the American and British diets which also contained high levels of fat and dairy but which featured high incidences of heart disease. One of the theories proposed by Renaud in the broadcast was that moderate consumption of red wine was a risk-reducing factor for the French and that wine could have more positive health benefits yet to be studied. Following the 60 Minutes broadcast, sales of red wine in the United States jumped 44% over previous years.
This changing view of wine can be seen in the evolution of the language used in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Dietary Guidelines. The 1990 edition of the guidelines contained the blanket statement that "wine has no net health benefit" . By 1995, the wording had been changed to allow moderate consumption with meals providing the individual had no other alcohol-related health risk. From a research perspective, scientists began differentiating alcohol consumption among the various classes of beverages – wine, beer and spirits. This distinction allowed studies to highlight the positive medical benefits of wine apart from the mere presence of alcohol. However wine drinkers tend to share similar lifestyle habitats – better diets, regular exercise, non-smoking – that may in themselves be a factor in the supposed positive health benefits compared to drinkers of beer and spirits or those who abstain completely.
What is moderate consumption?
See also: Recommended maximum intake of alcoholic beveragesNearly all research into the positive medical benefits of wine consumptions make a distinction between moderate consumption, heavy and binge drinking. What constitutes a moderate, healthy level of consumption will vary by individual according to age, gender, genetics, weight and body stature as well as the situation-i.e. is food being consumed as well, are any other drugs currently in the individual's system, etc. Women, in general, tend to absorb alcohol quicker than men due to their lower body water content and difference in levels of stomach enzyme so their moderate levels of consumption tend to be lower than a male of equal age and weight. Some doctors define "moderate consumption" as one 5 US fluid ounces (15 cl) glass of wine per day for women and two glasses per day for men.
The view of consuming wine in moderation has a history almost as long as that of wine's role in medicine. The Greek poet Eubulus believed that three bowls (kylix) were
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