Italian researchers have confirmed that red wine is not only good for combating cardiovascular conditions and diseases like Alzheimer's but also effective against flu.
A report from Italy's Higher Health Institute, Rome University and the National Research Council found that a molecule found in red wine, resveratrol, is capable of blocking the flu virus from mutating, the process which makes it difficult to develop an effective anti-flu medicine.
The report is important because of the global alert over avian flu, which many experts fear could mutate and cause a pandemic. At present there is no known pharmaceutical product which can effectively block the flu virus.
Scientists believe that the 1918 'Spanish Flu', which killed millions of people around the world, was caused by a mutated avian flu virus.
The Italian study, which has been published by the Journal of Infectious Diseases, was based on tests on cell cultures and then on live animals. According to the researchers, they were able to reduce the flu mortality rate in mice by 60% with resveratrol.
"This discovery is a very important because it increases the possibility of combating the virus and has proved effective against all different types of flu," researchers said.
Clinical tests are now necessary to verify whether there are any toxic side effects to administering resveratrol and whether it will be effective against the flu in human beings. A flood of scientific studies has already shown that drinking two glasses of red wine a day helps prevent diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's as well as cholesterol-related cardiovascular conditions.
This is because the alcohol and antioxidants in red wine, which contain resveratrol, help increase the levels of 'good' HDL cholesterol and lower the levels of 'bad' LDL cholesterol, eliminating it from the heart and blood vessels. Resveratrol is found in the skin of the red grapes which give the wine its color.
Although experts now agree that alcohol should no longer be demonised for its health risks, they stress that it can bring benefits only if consumed in moderation. There has been extensive research in Italy on the medicinal benefits of wine and it has been discovered that white wine also contains a disease-fighting molecule: tyrosine, a molecule which acts in a similar way to resveratrol.
Drinking white wine appears to be good for the lungs, too.
According to a June 2002 study released by the University of Buffalo, people who drink white wine regularly have healthier lungs than people who don't.
