How did red wine become associated with good health?
Red wine is thought to be healthy due to the “French Paradox”. In some parts of France where they eat foods high in saturated fat and have high rates of smoking, the rates of heart disease are low. These people also drink a lot of red wine. So, researchers began to study whether there were compounds in red wine that protected the French from heart disease. Red wine gets its rich colour from the grape skin. The grape skin is also why red wine is rich in compounds called antioxidants, some of which are believed to help prevent chronic disease. Research is ongoing to discover whether these antioxidants might play a role in preventing heart disease and cancer.
