RED WINE IS GOOD FOR THE HEART. IS IT THE ALCOHOL IN THE WINE OR THE POLYPHENOLS?

Interesting. Following the 60min program on CBS, we have come up with the concept of the French paradox, that red wine is good for the heart. That it is cardio-protective. I still think that is true. However, it is pertinent to note that red wine carries two important component, the alcohol component, and the polyphenol component.
A paper published in the Sept 6 issue of Circulation Research, tries to deal with this issue. Dr Gemma Chiva Blaunch and colleagues from the University of Barcelona, studied the effects of red wine on blood pressure.
He studied 65 males in the high risk CV category. He divided them into 3 groups. They were all asked to refrain from drinking alcohol for 2 weeks before the trial. With the trial, all groups ate a standard, CV friendly background diet. Then one group had red wine with 30gm alcohol per day. The second group had the equivalent amount of dealcoholised red wine, and the last group had gin with 30 gms of alcohol per day. After 4 weeks, there was a cross-over from one group to the next.
At the end of the treatment period, they found that the biggest BP reduction ( systolic and diastolic ), was  in the group who drank non-alcohol red wine. This reduction in the BP was also associated with a rise in nitric oxide. The group who drank normal red wine had only a slight reduction of BP.

It would appear, from this study, that it is not the alcohol in the red wine that is helping, but the polyphenols. The amount of BP reduction, would suggest a 14-20% reduction in CV and stroke risk. Quite impressive.
I suppose, those who do not imbibe alcohol, can find comfort that non-alcoholic red wine is also good for the heart. It may not taste the same, but it does help.