Antioxidants in red wine may help protect you against cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association, but drinking more than one or two glasses a day of any type of wine may increase your triglycerides, a type of fat that can accumulate in your arteries and increase your risk for heart attacks and strokes.
Optimal Triglyceride Levels
Healthy triglycerides measure less than 150 mg/dl. The American Heart Association recommends a lower level -- 100 mg/dl or less -- but the higher number remains the accepted number. Levels higher than 200 mg/dl put you at high risk for cardiovascular disease, and numbers that top 500 mg/dl put you at very high risk. If you currently have borderline triglyceride levels, drinking more than moderate amounts of red wine -- or any type of alcohol -- may put you in the high risk category.
Alcohol and Heart Disease Study
If you drink more than one serving of alcohol daily, you may increase your triglycerides by 5 to 10 percent compared to nondrinkers, according to a study led by Eric Rimm, an associate professor at Harvard University. However, people who drank less than 1 oz. of alcohol a day improved their overall risk for heart disease compared to people who completely abstained from alcohol, according to a study published in the December 1999 issue of the “British Medical Journal.”
Alcohol Effects on Triglyceride Levels
A more recent study found that drinking red wine has less effect on your triglycerides than other types of alcohol. M. Foerster and other researchers at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Switzerland examined the effects of drinking on heart health over a 10-year period on more than 5,700 adults. They found that drinking high amounts -- up to 34 servings a week -- of beer and spirits elevated triglycerides more than drinking red and white wine, according to the report in the February 2009 edition of the “American Journal of Cardiology.”
Considerations
Red wine contains an antioxidant called resveratrol that may help protect your blood vessels against damage. Other antioxidants in red wine may protect the walls of arteries in your heart. But research about red wine antioxidants remains limited, and it remains uncertain whether red wine provides more heart-health benefits than other types of alcohol, according to MayoClinic.com. The American Heart Association recommends that women and men older than 50 limit their intake of all types of alcohol to one serving a day and that younger men limit their intake to two drinks. A serving of wine equals 4 oz., a serving of beer equals 12 oz. and a serving of 80-proof liquor equals 1.5 oz.
References
- Mayo Clinic; High Cholesterol -- Tests and Diagnosis; June 2011
- "Circulation"; Triglycerides and Cardiovascular Disease a Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association; Michael Miller, et al.; April 2011
- "British Medical Journal"; Moderate Alcohol Intake and Lower Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: Meta-Analysis of Effects on Lipids and Haemostatic Factors; Eric Rimm, et al.; December 1999
- "American Journal of Cardiology"; Alcohol Drinking and Cardiovascular Risk in Population with High Mean Alcohol Consumption; M. Foerster, et al.; February 2009
- Mayo Clinic; Red Wine and Resveratrol -- Good for Your Heart?; March 2011
- American Heart Association; Alcohol and Cardiovascular Disease; August 2011
