“I would start from an assumption that seems historically and also scientifically based to me: we should stop sending out distorted messages and in any case capable of creating confusion in people. It cannot exist that anyone at the table sipping a glass of good wine feels persecuted by the very unfortunate Savonarolian prophecy of the type ‘remember that you must die’. We would be out of history, as well as the most basic principles of reasonableness”. Thus at time.news Salute the immunologist Mauro Minelli, professor of dietetics and human nutrition at the Lum University of Bari, intervenes on the question of wine, alcohol and health effects, on the day of the visit of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to the 55th edition of Vinitaly.
“We can certainly say that wine is well known as a drink with psychoactive effects due to the high content of ethyl alcohol which, after water, is the component in the greatest quantity in wine. And, from this point of view, wine should considered on a par with other narcotic substances, also because, like these, it causes addiction known as alcoholism – underlines Minelli – Due to its alcohol content, the high consumption of wine, like other alcoholic beverages, causes toxic effects, in particular of the liver. Ethyl alcohol – this too is well known – is also carcinogenic to various organs and is toxic to embryos, which is why its consumption is not recommended for pregnant women”.
But there is a beneficial flip side of the coin, according to Minelli, “since it has been demonstrated that controlled consumption of wine (even two glasses a day), and especially red wine, can have positive effects on health: it reduces LDL cholesterol (the ‘bad’ one), increases HDL (the ‘good’ one) and inhibits platelet aggregation (effect attributed to alcohol) with an antithrombotic action; it is also a source of polyphenols, in particular resveratrol, contained in the peel of red grapes, which has been shown to have the greatest antioxidant power”.
“Polyphenols are natural pigments with anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and antiviral properties contained in both olive oil and wine – observes the immunologist – They are able to counteract the oxidative processes triggered by free radicals which contribute to cellular aging and to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases and tumors; in practice they represent a significant defense against the development of pathologies such as atherosclerosis, the initiation of which is activated precisely by the oxidation of cholesterol plaques”.
“Wines, both white and red, block free radicals, although the effect is ten times greater with the red one. Therefore, one can only say yes to a moderate and careful consumption of wines. And I am sure that the messages that the medical community has launched on the consumption of wine over time, although sometimes misinterpreted, can only have confirmed the call for prudence, but not for ascetic and moderate abstinence”, concludes the immunologist.