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Study
Examines Wine Consumption
Excerpt
By
DEANNA BELLANDI, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO (AP)
- While studies suggest wine drinkers might be healthier, it may
have nothing to do with knowing the difference between a full-bodied
cabernet and a bold little merlot.
A new study
of young Danish adults found that wine drinkers generally are
smarter, richer and more educated - all factors that can be associated
with better health - than those who don't drink wine.
``People who
have high IQs, who come from high socio-economic status, who have
high education are generally healthier than people who are not,''
said June Reinisch, director emeritus of The Kinsey Institute
for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction at Indiana University
and one of the study's authors.
The study
published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine included
363 men and 330 women between the ages of 29 and 34. It compared
wine drinkers and beer drinkers, those who abstain and those who
drink both. Research was done between 1990 and 1994.
The people
who were studied were chosen from among a group of all the children
born at a major Copenhagen hospital between 1959 and 1961 who
researchers have studied over the years.
Other Danish
studies that showed health benefits from drinking wine were based
on data collected when few in the traditionally beer-drinking
country regularly drank wine. This study wanted to see if other
social factors might help explain the apparent health benefits.
Dr. Tedd Goldfinger,
a cardiologist in Tucson, Ariz., who has studied alcohol consumption
and heart health, said the benefits of drinking wine should not
be discounted.
``Clearly
there's benefit from wine consumption,'' said Goldfinger, who
was not involved in the Danish study.
Goldfinger
said alcohol can decrease the tendency of blood to clot and cause
heart attacks, and raise good cholesterol levels.
The benefits
of drinking a glass of red wine have been touted over the past
decade after the discovery of the ``French paradox'' - that the
French had low rates of heart disease despite high-cholesterol
diets. Studies have shown the key may be the glass or two of red
table wine at dinner.
But some scientists,
including the American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee,
have cautioned that drinking wine is not the most proven way to
improve heart health. They suggest the time-honored practices
of eating healthfully, exercising regularly and maintaining a
healthy weight.
Affluent people
would be expected to have fewer health problems because they have
better access to health care and generally lead healthier lifestyles
by going to the doctor regularly and eating more nutritious foods,
Goldfinger said.
But that doesn't
mean there are no health benefits to moderate wine consumption,
and you don't need to be rich to enjoy them, he said.
``You don't
have to go out and spend $20 or $30 on a bottle of wine,'' Goldfinger
said. He said a cheaper one will do.
On
the Net:
Archives of Internal Medicine: http://archinte.ama-assn.org
Reference
Source 102
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