Studying alcohol’s effects on human health is tricky business. We know that heavy binge drinking causes serious health issues. But even moderate drinking can be difficult to study in a clinical setting or self-reported study. There are myriad confounding factors, such as beverage type, whether it’s being enjoyed with food, even cultural influences on how alcohol is consumed. A new review published in the journal Food and Function looked at all these variables to better understand how drinking patterns affect human health. Based on their findings, the authors make several recommendations regarding wine consumption and health guidelines. Their biggest takeaway was that moderate drinking with meals delivers maximum health benefits. The authors of the review, led by Dr. Mladen Boban of the University of Split School of Medicine in Croatia, began by noting the confusion surrounding health and alcohol. Alcohol abuse is the third-leading cause of death in the European Union, they explain, yet light to moderate consumption has been shown to lower mortality rates.

Even national governments appear confused on how to advise their citizens on beneficial drinking habits. Just this past year, the United Kingdom released controversial guidelines on alcohol consumption, calling any amount of alcohol unsafe. The report's credibility was subsequently questioned by some leading health professionals. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture’s latest dietary guidelines advise moderate drinking but give little guidance in terms of drinking with meals or the effects of binge drinking. The researchers hope their review might help shape future national alcohol policies. The review focuses primarily on “drinking patterns with regard to beverage type, regular moderate [drinking] versus binge drinking and drinking with or without meals,” rather than units of alcohol or other measurements commonly used in studies and public health guidelines. Analyzing past studies, the authors looked at seven measures of drinking patterns—moderate alcohol intake, alcohol intake spread out over the week, low spirit consumption, wine preference, red wine consumption, wine consumed during meals and avoidance of binge drinking.

They concluded that wine drinkers do indeed have a lower rate of mortality than those who regularly choose beer or spirits. The scientists also found that the cardioprotective effects of wine increase when consumed with food. However, people already consuming a well-balanced diet see fewer health benefits derived from alcohol consumption. They theorize that these benefits are due to certain compounds in wine, like antioxidants and polyphenols. They also note that eating while drinking lowers blood-alcohol content, which provides protection for the liver over the long term.where to buy wine travel bags The review also focused heavily on the varying global cultural influences of alcohol consumption, especially in regard to national differences in what defines “binge drinking.” best sweet wine brands

For example, in many Nordic and Scandinavian countries, the nation’s overall consumption may be low, but when residents drink, they tend to have 7 to 14 servings of spirits in one sitting. In contrast, southern European residents consume more alcohol, but tend to do it over the course of a week and with meals. The authors also acknowledged that in certain countries, heavy drinking is associated with violent and antisocial behavior that can lead to injury and death. In others, overconsumption is more culturally acceptable.best wine price india Knowing this, they recommended using the principle of “audience segmentation” in implementing more successful public health campaigns. beer and wine online storeGuidelines should not be one-size fits all. best indian wine with price

Instead, medical professionals, government officials, community leaders, parents and others should tailor their initiatives to a community's drinking habits. Someone who responsibly consumes wine may be more receptive to a light-handed public health campaign aimed at improving well-being. A heavy binge drinker with a preference for spirits may need a more direct, intense and interventionist approach. Either way, the first step, they write, is making it clear that the evidence suggests our best bet is drinking wine in moderation, with a well-balanced meal.best wine ebookOver the past year, our social media feeds have blown up on more than one occasion over claims that drinking wine at bedtime could help you drop a few pounds. buy wine beer onlineIn fact, this “news” generated so much buzz that urban-legend buster Snopes decided to investigate. best wine with indian

Turns out, the majority of coverage was referencing a Daily Mail story that hinged on anecdotal accounts of women claiming that their “nighttime tipple” helped them slim down. But sadly, there was no new groundbreaking report showing that a glass of red before bed was the secret new weight loss weapon we’ve all been dreaming of. We’ve been told over and over that alcohol has no place in a weight loss program. Not only does it provide empty calories, studies confirm that “having a few” tends to zap your inhibition and make you order midnight cheese fries — a phenomenon known as the “drunchies.” best place to buy wine dcAlas, it makes sense to file away the “bedtime wine” idea in the “too good to be true” health research morgue that also houses this seductive headline: “A glass of red wine is the equivalent to an hour at the gym.” Yet research shows that moderate amounts of Malbec won’t totally derail your weight loss efforts.

Here’s what you need to know about your vino habit. RELATED: How Bad Is Alcohol, Really? We’ve all read that red wine is a healthy part of the Mediterranean Diet — the one that helps you live longer and maintain an enviable BMI. Even lifestyle guru Tim Ferris claims that two glasses of wine before bed each night helped him achieve his ripped physique. And recent research in mice showed that resveratrol, an antioxidant in red wine, can help turn regular white fat into energy-burning beige fat, which can contribute to weight loss and prevent obesity (just in case you didn’t know that fat came in different colors). “Heavy drinking can disturb sleep, but a moderate amount has a sedative effect.” While you can also get resveratrol in fruits, such as blueberries, lead author Min Du, PhD, professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at Washington State University, explains that the fermentation process of wine makes the antioxidant compounds easier to absorb, which can help accelerate the fat-burning process.

Although Du didn’t specifically test the effect of giving resveratrol to the mice at night, he concedes that there might be a metabolic advantage of consuming wine in the wee hours. When you drink wine with food — whether at lunch, dinner or with a late-night snack — the antioxidant compounds interact with protein in a way that prevents the body from metabolizing them for weight loss. When you consume resveratrol on its own, however, the body is able to absorb the compounds more readily, and thus maximize the burning of beige fat. That said, he stops short of endorsing an unaccompanied glass of bedtime wine as a diet strategy. “I don’t have the data to support it,” he says. “Wine is beneficial to your health, but never use it to control your body weight. It still has calories.” Ahem, 110 to 130 calories per glass, on average. RELATED: Here’s How Many Calories Are in Your Cocktail There’s another way wine might help with weight control. Just the right amount can help people fall asleep more easily, and according to recent studies, adequate slumber is key to keeping off the pounds.

“Heavy drinking can disturb sleep, but a moderate amount has a sedative effect,” explains Greg Traversy, a researcher at the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group in Ottawa, Canada who wrote a review paper on research involving alcohol and obesity. “If it’s helping you sleep, then maybe you’re getting the weight management benefits downstream by having more energy to be active and not having the snack munchies the next day,” Traversy says. “It’s like it has a special VIP pass to go ahead of other fuels.” Unfortunately, much to the disappointment of weight-conscious wine lovers everywhere, Traversy didn’t find any studies showing that imbibing will help you shed pounds. Yet he was surprised to find evidence that moderate drinking wasn’t necessarily linked with weight gain. Take this famous Harvard study, for example. The research, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2010, found that women who drank in moderation (defined as one to two glasses daily) had a lower risk of becoming overweight over 13 years than women who didn’t drink at all.

“It’s not clear why,” he says. “It might be because they’re exhibiting moderate behaviors in all areas of life, including weight maintenance.” The study authors pointed out that the moderate drinkers exercised more and ate less food to make room for their alcohol calories. RELATED: How Bad Is Your Happy Hour? This Alcohol Calculator Tells You The bad news is that if you drink too much, alcohol interferes with your body’s ability to burn fat. “Alcohol blocks the burning of everything else,” says Marc Hellerstein, MD, PhD, professor of human nutrition at the University of California at Berkeley. “It’s like it has a special VIP pass to go ahead of other fuels.” In other words, if your body is overwhelmed with burning alcohol, your food will be more likely to get stored as fat. Perhaps this was the secret of late-night wine. By drinking it a few hours after dinner, you give your body a chance to digest it when it won’t have to compete with food. “I’m not convinced,” says Hellerstein.