One Major Side Effect of Drinking Red Wine

It’s well-known that drinking wine in moderation may have several science-backed health benefits. As Kelli McGrane, MS, RD, a registered dietitian for the food-tracking app Lose It! explained to us, moderate wine consumption is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, is known to help protect against diabetes, and may help increase your body’s level of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. One study published in the journal BMC Medicine even found that people who drink between two and seven glasses of wine per week were less likely to suffer from depression.

But, according to a study conducted by researchers at Iowa State University and published in December in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, there’s yet another positive side effect to drinking wine—well, red wine, specifically—and consider it an added bonus that you can pair it with cheese and still reap the health benefits. 

“I was pleasantly surprised that the results suggest that responsibly eating cheese and drinking red wine daily are not just good for helping the cope with the current COVID-19 pandemic, but perhaps also dealing with an increasingly complex world that never seems to slow down,” said Auriel Willette, an assistant professor in Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State.

“While took into account whether this was just due to what well-off people eat and drink, randomized clinical trials are needed to determine if making easy changes in the diet could help the brains in significant ways.”

For the study, participants completed multiple “Fluid Intelligence Tests (FIT),” which, according to the researchers, “provide an in-time snapshot of an individual’s ability to ‘think on the fly,'” and also reported their food-and-alcohol consumption.

The diet questionnaire specifically asked them about their daily intake of “fresh fruit, dried fruit, raw vegetables and salad, cooked vegetables, oily fish, lean fish, processed meat, poultry, beef, lamb, pork, cheese, bread, cereal, tea and coffee, beer and cider, red wine, white wine and champaign and liquor,” said the study.

If you really want to take practical experience and have curiosity to know more about vodka, whisky and wines like red wines, reach out to the Avon, CO liquor store and talk with the staff present there about different types of drinks.