A bottle of wine a week in Mediterranean diet 'could be as good as statins' for heart health Drinking a bottle of wine a week could be as good as statins for heart health, research suggests.
Compared with people who didn't drink wine, people who drank three to 12 glasses of wine each month had a 38% lower risk of heart disease, according to the study, which has been published in the European Heart Journal.
It analysed urine samples of 1,232 older adults from a Mediterranean population at a high risk of heart disease and after five years there were 685 cases of heart disease, including heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular disease.
Study lead, Professor Ramon Estruch, from the University of Barcelona, said: "By measuring tartaric acid in the urine, alongside food and drink questionnaires, we have been able to make a more accurate measurement of wine consumption.
Until now, we believed that 20% of the effects of the Mediterranean diet could be attributed to moderate wine consumption, however, in light of these results, the effect may be even greater.”.
