No benefit from antioxidant in wine and chocolate, new study says

Scientists from the John Hopkins University School of Medicine did not find any definitive proof that drinking red wine is good for one’s health, BBC reported.

Previous studies have indicated that drinking red wine and eating dark chocolate is good for the heart and prolongs life.

According to these reports, resveratrol, the common ingredient found in both red wine and dark chocolate, reduces inflammation in the blood.

Because of these findings, many people incorporate the consumption of these products to their regular diet.

“The story of resveratrol turns out to be another case where you get a lot of hype about health benefits that does not stand the test of time,” said Richard D. Semba, a professor of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University’s school of medicine.

The thinking was that certain foods are good for you because they contain resveratrol.

“We did not find that at all,” he added.

Despite the negative results, consumption of red wine, dark chocolate and berries does reduce inflammation in some people and still appears to protect the heart, Semba noted.

“It is just that the benefits, if they are there, must come from other polyphenols or substances found in those foodstuffs,” he maintained.

These are complex foods, and all we really know from our study is that the benefits are probably not due to resveratrol, researchers added.

For the current study, the researchers analysed 24 hours of urine samples from 783 Italians over age 65 for metabolites of resveratrol.

After accounting for such factors as age and gender, the people with the highest concentration of resveratrol metabolites were no less likely to have died of any cause than those with no resveratrol found in their urine.

The concentration of resveratrol was not associated with inflammatory markers, cardiovascular disease or cancer rates.

Resveratrol is also found in relatively large amounts in grapes, peanuts and certain Asiatic plant roots.

Agencies/Canadajournal