Although it is clearly established that the abuse of alcohol is seriously harmful to health, much epidemiological and clinical evidence seem to underline the protective role of moderate quantities of alcohol and in particular of wine on health. This narrative review aims to re-evaluate the relationship between the type and dose of alcoholic drink and reduced or increased risk of various diseases, in the light of the most current scientific evidence.
In particular, in vitro studies on the modulation of biochemical pathways and gene expression of wine bioactive components were evaluated. Twenty-four studies were selected after PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar searches for the evaluation of moderate alcohol/wine consumption and health effects: eight studies concerned cardiovascular diseases, three concerned type 2 diabetes, four concerned neurodegenerative diseases, five concerned cancer and four were related to longevity.
A brief discussion on viticultural and enological practices potentially affecting the content of bioactive components in wine is included. The analysis clearly indicates that wine differs from other alcoholic beverages and its moderate consumption not only does not increase the risk of chronic degenerative diseases but is also associated with health benefits particularly when included in a Mediterranean diet model. Obviously, every effort must be made to promote behavioral education to prevent abuse, especially among young people.
Although it is clearly established that the abuse of alcohol is seriously harmful to health, much epidemiological and clinical evidence seem to underline the protective role of moderate quantities of alcohol and in particular of wine on health.
This narrative review aims to re-evaluate the relationship between the type and dose of alcoholic drink and reduced or increased risk of various diseases, in the light of the most current scientific evidence.
In particular, in vitro studies on the modulation of biochemical pathways and gene expression of wine bioactive components were evaluated. Twenty-four studies were selected after PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar searches for the evaluation of moderate alcohol/wine consumption and health effects: eight studies concerned cardiovascular diseases, three concerned type 2 diabetes, four concerned neurodegenerative diseases, five concerned cancer and four were related to longevity.
A brief discussion on viticultural and enological practices potentially affecting the content of bioactive components in wine is included.
The analysis clearly indicates that wine differs from other alcoholic beverages and its moderate consumption not only does not increase the risk of chronic degenerative diseases but is also associated with health benefits particularly when included in a Mediterranean diet model. Obviously, every effort must be made to promote behavioral education to prevent abuse, especially among young people.
Resveratrol is a bioactive polyphenolic compound mainly present in grapes and red wine.
It is known to exert beneficial effects in various experimental settings, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and immunoregulatory.
Accumulating evidence suggests these health benefits might be, at least partially, attributed to resveratrol's role in protecting the intestinal barrier, regulating the gut microbiome, and inhibiting intestinal inflammation.
The purpose of this review is to examine the bioactivities of resveratrol in disease prevention and health promotion from the standpoint of regulating the gut microbiome.
The article aims to provide additional insight into the potential applications of resveratrol in the food and nutraceutical industry.
We analyzed 3344 publications concerned with the health-related effects of resveratrol that occurs in wine and grapes. We discovered that publication activity increased until 2010 and decreased slightly afterwards.
The most frequent author keywords were classified into six groups: (1) beverage-related keywords, (2) compound-related keywords, (3) disease-related keywords, (4) effect-related keywords, (5) mechanism-related keywords, and (6) broader keywords.
By means of reference publication year spectroscopy, we analyzed and discussed the most frequently cited references (i.e., key papers) within the publication set. A rather large portion of the key papers exhibit a deliberative or positive attitude and report on the health effects of resveratrol, although limited data in humans preclude drawing unambiguous conclusions on its health-related benefits. From our analysis, we could not identify specific publications that provide a distinct change of direction of the ongoing scientific discourse. Moderate red wine consumption seems to bear the potential of being health promoting, whereas excessive alcohol consumption can induce liver cirrhosis and cancer.