Is red wine good for your heart?
A cardiovascular surgeon in Savannah, Georgia, has some definite thoughts about the matter.
"In a nutshell, red wine is not good for your heart," Dr. Jeremy London told Fox News Digital. "The amount of red wine you would have to drink to get any benefit from resveratrol would be excessive."
Resveratrol is "found in the skins of grapes and in certain other plants, fruits and seeds," according to the National Cancer Institute. "It is being studied in the prevention of cancer and heart disease. It is a type of antioxidant and a type of polyphenol."
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London discussed this topic in one of his popular social media videos. (See the video at the top of this article.)
Red wine contains resveratrol, London told his followers. It "has been shown that this can cause dilation of blood vessels, make platelets slippery so that you don't get the blockages in the arteries, but this has never really been proven in humans."
For someone to get adequate levels of resveratrol, London said in the video, "you would have to drink a huge amount of red wine – and this amount of alcohol would clearly outweigh any benefits that you got from the polyphenols from the skin of the grape itself."
An alternative solution, according to information on the Mayo Clinic's website, is to eat grapes or drink grape juice instead.
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"Simply eating grapes or drinking grape juice might be a way to get resveratrol without drinking alcohol," the Mayo Clinic said.
"Red and purple grape juices may have some of the same heart-healthy pluses of red wine."
There also are resveratrol supplements, the Mayo Clinic noted.
"However, they might cause side effects," according to the Mayo Clinic.
"And research suggests that the body can't absorb most of the resveratrol in supplements."
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Is drinking white wine better for the heart?
"Although white wine contains polyphenols, resveratrol is found primarily in the grape's skin and is typically removed in white wine production," London told Fox News Digital.
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While many studies have shown that drinking limited amounts of alcohol – not just red wine – can help the heart, more research is needed to determine whether red wine is better for the heart than other types of alcohol like beer or liquor, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The American Heart Association (AHA) advises against the idea of starting to drink alcohol just to try to prevent heart disease.
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But for those who enjoy drinking a glass of red wine at dinner, London had this parting advice.
"In the end, drink red wine because you enjoy red wine, not in hopes of increasing longevity," London told Fox News Digital.
"It's a personal choice. Your body, your rules," he said.
"Make decisions that work for you."
