Daily glass of red wine is not good for the heart, actually, say Spanish GPs
Wednesday, May 15, 2019 @ 7:49 PM
FAMILY doctors in Spain have debunked the popular myth about how a glass of red wine a day is good for the heart – there is no minimum safe alcohol level, and any amount of alcohol at all increases the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, GPs stress.
The national cancer research and care charity AECC has already stated in the past that every sip of alcohol is an increase in the risk of developing this devastating disease, and now, the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (SemFYC) has reaffirmed this at its recent 39thCongress in Málaga.
For a long time now, unsubstantiated claims have been doing the rounds about how 30 grams of red wine a day is good for the heart, even helping to reverse the effects in anyone already diagnosed with a heart condition, but the SemFYC says: “There are no reasons for recommending the consumption of any type of alcohol to the population as beneficial for health.”
Professor Julio Basulto from the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing Sciences at Vic University refers to other popular alcohol myths, such as whisky being conducive to 'being a good lover', and says there are 'no well-designed scientific studies' that support any physical health benefits deriving from alcohol.
On the contrary, the 'healthy' glass-a-day cited by certain media and social media sources 'demonstrably' ups the risk of high blood pressure, haemorrhagic stroke and auricular fibrillation, Professor Basulto says.
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