Red Wine Is Good For You Research May Have Been FAKED!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45959905/ns/health-health_care/#.Tw4sSYFWqrg

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I just saw the same article. Maybe it was a case of write the paper first - then fabricate the research to justify your conclusions!

Seriously, I would have to scrutinize the allegations to understand how egregious his transgressions really were.

Does anybody else remember about 7 years ago Wine Spectator hired a doctor to write a monthly column talking only about how wine is good for your health?
I have to admit I raised my eyebrows over that. Not sure how long he lasted but was one of the regular writers right behind Laube and Kramer.
wine=alcohol, alcohol=poison, duh!!!

Hey when one is doing research at UCONN it needs to be done quickly in order to make the opening tip of the women’s basketball games.

Coffee = Caffeine, Caffeine = Poison, duh!!!

Except that coffee is the no. 1 source of antioxidants in the average American’s diet. Breaking wine down to poison ignores 86% of what else is in the bottle. It also ignores a large 20 year study released last year that discussed the impact of drinking alcohol on lifespan. While the study is inherently flawed because it ignores the participants’ health and addiction issues prior to the beginning of the study, the results were still a bit shocking.

The study (done by my alma mater, Texas) followed people between the ages of 55-65 for 20 years. Groups of participants fell into a few categories…total abstention, moderate drinking, heavy drinking. Moderate = up to 3 drinks a night. Heavy = 4+ drinks a night. During the 20 years following the initiation of the study, the highest mortality rate was the group that totally abstained. Next was heavy drinkers. Lowest, by far, was moderate drinkers. Death rates were 69% for total abst., 60% for heavy, 41% for moderate.

Some obvious issues that the study identified were socio-economic status, prior addiction/health issues, other life stresses. For instance, participants that totally abstained tended to have lower disposable income, and higher life stress focused on manual labor, lack of funds/health care. The study did suggest that abstaining from drinking closely correlated to social interaction, and that those who abstain interact far less frequently with other people. The study suggests that social interaction is a potential key to longevity, and that such interaction helps maintain mental acuity. That seems to account to some degree for why heavy drinkers had lower mortality rates despite consuming on average 28+ drinks per week for 20 years following their 55th birthday. That’s a lot of hooch. Study also indicated that red wine drinkers had lower motality rates within the consumer groups, although the study failed to identify why…socio-economic status and abundant disposable income could easily attribute to better healthcare and therefore a lower mortality rate.

But, back to my main point, breaking down any alcoholic beverage simply to poison represents inherently flawed logic.

Not sure what you’re doing here if you feel this way, but water=poison too. It’s just a question of how much you drink.

In fact, the ingredient in wine most beneficial to your health is alcohol, but only in the right “dosage”.

Well said!

Dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO)

don’t drink the water or eat the yellow snow!

Not very scientific, but I am almost certain red wine, in moderation, is indeed good for you. I lost a substantial amount of weight (70 lbs) over the course of a little over 6 months through diet and exercise while following The Belly Fat Cure. I tracked my food intake and weight very carefully. During weeks that I drank red wine, I lost more weight than weeks I did not drink any alcohol, or drank something else like bourbon, scotch, or beer. The correlation became obvious after about two months.

I have since maintained, for the most part, my weight loss over the last 2.5 years. I’d like to attribute that to both my hard work exercising and watching what I eat, but also to my love of red wine.

Tis a shame this resveretrol stuff (not ready to call it nonsense just yet) overshadows experiences like mine. Of course everyone is looking for the magic bullet diet pill or fountain of youth. IMHO no such pill will ever exist, at least not one that allows you to eat or drink whatever you want. True dieting is hard work. In the mean time, I will continue to enjoy my red wine and its health benefits (both physical and mental).

The NYT storyportrayed this as minor research by a little-known guy:

The charges, if verified, seem unlikely to affect the field of resveratrol research itself, because Dr. Das’s work was peripheral to its central principles, several of which are in contention. “Today I had to look up who he is. His papers are mostly in specialty journals,” said David Sinclair, a leading resveratrol expert at the Harvard Medical School.

The significance of the case seems more to reflect on the general system of apportioning research money.

Most things medicinal become poison when taken in too high dosage.

It’s the old adage, “a little bit is medicine, too much is poison.”

Or, maybe that’s just something I made up.

Too much alcohol has dulled my memory.

If they’d only pay as much attention to antipsychotic research…sigh

But, I’ve been saying it for a long time so, technically, it’s an old adage.

Seriously, however, it is usually recommended that people over 50 take a baby aspirin a day because aspirin is known to thin the blood which keeps clots from forming.

Alcohol is also a known blood thinner.

And there are several other medicinal blood thinners.

Each of these is beneficial in the right doses and potentially lethal when taken in too high dosage.

“…but the cardiovascular benefits of resveratrol have also been established in other researchers’ work.”

This wasn’t a one study phenomena. At this point all this means is that we have less replication. There have been other studies supporting the health benefits of resveratrol.

As it always comes down to - moderation is the key (including moderation!)

In vino veritas.

Even the truth can hurt.

What researchers know is that moderate drinking is associated with longer life spans in general populations.

That’s a given.

So, the notion that moderate consumption can be beneficial is not being disputed.

What researchers have failed to produce is a bullet-proof explanation for the benefit.

It looks like much of this was keyed on Resveratrol. Resveratrol is produced by grapes to (try to) fight rot that attacks the berry/cluster.
Resveratrol has been shown to be highest in grapes prone to rot - Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, & (I believe) Petit Sirah & Syrah in a wet year/climate.

The research I’ve seen shows that the amount of Resveratrol needed to be beneficial is far, far more than could be contained in a single bottle of wine - even some brown, rotten Golden Slope Pinot from a rainy year.

On the other hand there has been plenty of research showing the benefits of moderate alcohol consumption.

Additionally, red wines high in polyphenols (powerful anti-oxidants) also have some health benefits.

I can’t speak to, or condone adding DHMO (Dihydrogen monoxide) to your wine, but have heard horror stories of it being done in both its solid & liquid forms. Personally, I pity da fool!

Facts About Dihydrogen Monoxide