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Red wine is good for gut health and can lower cholesterol, but you only need it once a fortnight, a new study has found.
The first major research of its kind found significantly higher diversity of friendly bacteria in the gut among red wine drinkers, but not among drinkers of white wine, cider or beer.
Scientists at King’s College London believe the beneficial effect is due to polyphenols found in the skin of grapes, which go into the red wine-making process, but are not used in white wine.
These are packed with antioxidants which fuel the diversity of microbes in the gut.
Despite the positive findings, the experts warned drinkers not to exceed recommended safe alcohol limits, saying the data showed a beneficial effect was possible even with as little as one glass of red wine a fortnight.
Dr Caroline Le Roy, who led the study, said: “While we have long known of the unexplained benefits of red wine on heart health, this study shows that moderate red wine consumption is associated with greater diversity and a healthier gut microbiota that partly explain its long debated beneficial effects on health.”
The microbiome is the collection of microorganisms in an environment and plays an important role in human health.
An imbalance of ‘good’ microbes compared to ‘bad’ in the gut can lead to adverse health outcomes such as reduced immune system, weight gain or high cholesterol. A person’s gut microbiome with a higher number of different bacterial species is considered a marker of gut health.
Dr Le Roy added: “If you must choose one alcoholic drink today, red wine is the one to pick as it seems to potentially exert a beneficial effect on you and your gut microbes, which in turn may also help weight and risk of heart disease.
“However, it is still advised to consume alcohol with moderation.”
Scientists are increasingly realising the importance of the gut for a range of serious illnesses, from mental health conditions such as depression to Alzheimer’s.
The new research involved nearly 3,000 participants and is published in the journal Gastroenterology. — telegraph
Online Reporter