Although excessive alcohol consumption is a highly prevalent public health problem the data on the associations between alcohol consumption and health outcomes in individuals preferring different types of alcoholic beverages has remained unclear. We examined the relationships between the amounts and patterns of drinking with the data on laboratory indices of liver function, lipid status and inflammation in a national population-based health survey (FINRISK). Data on health status, alcohol drinking, types of alcoholic beverages preferred, body weight, smoking, coffee consumption and physical activity were recorded from 22,432 subjects (10,626 men, 11,806 women), age range 25-74 years. The participants were divided to subgroups based on the amounts of regular alcohol intake (abstainers, moderate and heavy drinkers), patterns of drinking (binge or regular) and the type of alcoholic beverage preferred (wine, beer, cider or long drink, hard liquor or mixed). Regular drinking was found to be more typical in wine drinkers whereas the subjects preferring beer or hard liquor were more often binge-type drinkers and cigarette smokers. Alcohol use in all forms was associated with increased frequencies of abnormalities in the markers of liver function, lipid status and inflammation even at rather low levels of consumption. The highest rates of abnormalities occurred, however, in the subgroups of binge-type drinkers preferring beer or hard liquor. These results demonstrate that adverse consequences of alcohol occur even at moderate average drinking levels especially in individuals who engage in binge drinking and in those preferring beer or hard liquor. Further emphasis should be placed on such patterns of drinking in policies aimed at preventing alcohol-induced adverse health outcomes.
The consumption of food for pleasure is mainly associated with adverse health effects. This review was carried out to verify recent reports on the impact of chocolate and wine consumption on cardiovascular health, with a particular focus on atherosclerosis. On one side, these products have proven adverse effects on the cardiovascular system, but on the other hand, if consumed in optimal amounts, they have cardiovascular benefits.
The submitted data suggest that the beneficial doses are 30-50 g and 130/250 mL for chocolate and wine, respectively, for women and men. The accumulated evidence indicates that the active ingredients in the products under consideration in this review are phenolic compounds, characterized by anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiplatelet properties. However, there are also some reports of cardioprotective properties of other compounds such as esters, amines, biogenic amines, amino acids, fatty acids, mineral ingredients, and vitamins.
Our narrative review has shown that in meta-analyses of intervention studies, consumption of chocolate and wine was positively associated with the beneficial outcomes associated with the cardiovascular system. In contrast, the assessment with the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) scale did not confirm this phenomenon.
In addition, mechanisms of action of bioactive compounds present in chocolate and wine depend on some factors, such as age, sex, body weight, and the presence of additional medical conditions. Patients using cardiovascular drugs simultaneously with both products should be alert to the risk of pharmacologically relevant interactions during their use.
Our narrative review leads to the conclusion that there is abundant evidence to prove the beneficial impact of consuming both products on cardiovascular health, however some evidence still remains controversial. Many authors of studies included in this review postulated that well-designed, longitudinal studies should be performed to determine the effects of these products and their components on atherosclerosis and other CVD (Cardiovascular Disease) disease.
Many studies conclude that wine consumption is related to lower risk for cardiovascular diseases partially through the amelioration of inflammatory biomarkers. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of wine consumption on the inflammatory response and to compare these effects with the consumption of similar amount of alcohol without the wine micro-constituents in cardiovascular disease patients. Therefore, a randomized, single-blind, controlled, three-arm parallel intervention study was designed. Cardiovascular disease patients were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. In Group A participants consumed no alcohol, in Group B (ethanol group) and Group C (wine group) participants consumed 27 g of alcohol per day. Biological samples were collected at the beginning, on the 4th and 8th week and several biomarkers were measured. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells that were isolated from patients were incubated under basal and inflammatory conditions for 4 and 24 h and the secretion of interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) was measured. No significant difference was observed among the three groups before the initiation or during the intervention in the most soluble biomarkers. Higher TNFalpha secretion by peripheral blood mononuclear cells was observed at basal conditions in the ethanol group both at 4 and 24 h of incubation versus baseline secretion. Furthermore, lower secretion of the TauNFalpha was observed after 8 weeks of intake in the wine group versus the ethanol group, both at 4 and 24 h of incubation. In conclusion, the light to moderate wine consumption for 8 weeks revealed an attenuation of the ethanol consumption effect on cytokine secretion at basal conditions from the patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
Inflammation, thrombosis and oxidative stress are rarely studied together when wine's biological activity is concerned; hence the existing literature lacks a holistic point of view in the biological outcome. The scope of the present study is to parallel evaluate the effect of wine extracts on those mechanisms.
Ten wine varieties and two different extraction methods were used leading to five extracts for each wine: total lipids (TL) and fractions with different phenolic compound classes (FI, FII, FIII and FIV). Their effect on oxidative stress, platelet aggregation and the secretion of cytokines from mononuclear cells was measured and a biological score was calculated. FII of white wines is the most potent extract and the extracts FIII and TL are following. Specifically, FII had higher anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory score while all three fractions had a similar anti-platelet score.
Furthermore, FII and FIII extracts were the most potent red wine extracts and revealed the highest anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory scores. White wine FII extracts were more potent than the red wine ones while FI and FIV extracts of red wine were more potent than the white wine ones.
In conclusion, the protective effect of a wine is independent of its color but is strongly associated with its microconstituents profile. FII extract revealed the highest biological score and further examination is needed in order to identify the compounds that are responsible for the aforementioned actions.