Does wine help you live longer?

When an international team of researchers pooled the results of 22 studies and analyzed them as a whole, they found that people who consumed 800 milligrams of flavonoids —​​ one type of polyphenol found in wine, as well as most fruits and vegetables — per day had a 24% lower risk of death within the study period compared with those who consumed no flavonoids. Their 2017 results, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology(opens in new tab), found that this difference dropped by 6% for every 100-milligram decrease in flavonoid consumption. (For example, people who consumed only 700 milligrams had an 18% lower risk of death.)

The problem is that 800 milligrams is a lot of flavonoids. “You’d have to drink gallons and gallons of wine to benefit,” said Bill Klein, associate director of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Behavioral Research Program. Klein studies behavioral risk factors for cancer and has published papers on the health effects of alcohol. In one study, published in 2001 in The Journal of Nutrition(opens in new tab), participants who consumed 750 milliliters of wine (about four 6-ounce glasses) ingested only about 24 milligrams of dietary flavonoids. Based on that result, to get 800 milligrams per day, you’d need to drink 133 glasses of wine. Plus, there are other, potentially healthier sources of polyphenols: The Journal of Nutrition study found that participants ingested more polyphenols when eating onions.

There is some evidence that drinking moderate amounts of wine is heart-healthy, Baranchuk said. Around two glasses, five days per week for men or one glass, five days per week for women — the guidelines(opens in new tab) recommended by the American Heart Association — seem to raise good cholesterol, reduce the risk of blood clots, help to prevent artery damage caused by bad cholesterol, and improve the function of the layer of cells that line the blood vessels compared with people who don’t drink at all, he said.