Wine and health: a review and perspective

Abstract

This review provides a summary of recent debates in the medical literature concerning the effects of alcohol, and wine in particular, on health. Following an initial discussion of wine and health in general, it addresses the subjects of cardiovascular disease, the blood, cancer, mothers and babies, the elderly, the brain and the nerves, headache, the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas, nutrition and weight, the internal milieu, toxins and other miscellanea. It concludes that, with only a few exceptions, moderate consumption of wine is harmless, and often beneficial.