WHITE WINE IS ‘HEART FRIENDLY’ ACCORDING TO AN ITALIAN-AMERICAN STUDY. ALBERTO BERTELLI FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MILAN CONFIRMS RESULTS

White wine can now officially be considered heart friendly, especially for women. The results of a study on wine white that was commissioned by the Soave Wine Consortium at the University of Pisa were presented recently at the “White Wine and Health” congress.
Conducted by American epidemiologist, Arthur Klatsky, the study conducted on over 130,000 patients over a period of seven years revealed that those who included moderate consumption of white wine in their diet were more resistant to cardiovascular diseases than those who did not drink at all. It also appears that white wine is even a stronger ally against these diseases than red wine, which has already been noted for its heart healthy benefits. Women also appear to benefit more from the positive effects of white wine.

“There are molecules in white wine that have been examined” – explained Alberto Bertelli, Professor at the Department of Human Morphology at the University of Milan and President of the Wine, Food and Health Commission of the Vine and Wine Organization (OIV) – “which are the same as those in olive oil that offer cardiovascular protection. This is very new data that has come out, in collaboration with the U.S., and it is something that works. Thus, just one glass is enough, given that excess is bad, and these substances function at very low doses. I’d say that we are only at the beginning with white wine, but this data is a confirmation”.

The result, continued Bertelli, gives new dimensions to, “the role of red wine, considered until now the only cardio-protector. Wine, however, is not a pharmaceutical. Still, in healthy subjects, moderate consumption of white wine, always during meals, is capable of reducing conditions that favor the formation of atherosclerosis plaque. And this could explain its effectiveness in preventing heart disease. It was an entirely new concept to introduce white wine instead of red into patients’ diets”.