Drink ‘thousands of different wine grape varieties’ to boost your health, expert says

People should try as many different wine grape varieties as possible to boost their gut health and mental wellbeing, epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector recently suggested. 

The role that polyphenols play in our overall health is an emerging area of research for scientists, with studies demonstrating their potential in reducing heart health risk and even helping our bodies burn calories from food.

Polyphenols are a group of naturally-occurring compounds found in plants that have a number of health benefits, thanks to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics.

As we know, polyphenols are present in wine, particularly in red wine, and it is this notion that Professor Spector used as his reasoning behind the eye-catching statement.

Several studies have demonstrated the potential benefits polyphenols have for our heart health, but Professor Spector also referenced improved gut health, boosted immunity and improved mental health in his comments.

“Drink wine, primarily for the pleasure, but at the back of your mind think ‘could I be trying different bottles or varieties that might actually be healthier for me and that I might enjoy?’” The scientist said while speaking on the Wine Blast podcast.

“Diversity is also important; if you take the analogy from food, having a range of different grape varieties in your diet means you are going to be helping different gut microbes inside you and you will increase your gut health and diversity.

“Don’t just stick with the same wine, get out there and try hundreds or thousands of different grape varieties that we generally don’t enjoy.

“Let’s get those rare ones back on the map again because those could be helping you nourish really healthy gut microbes inside you and improve your health.”

Professor Spector also recommended that drinkers adjust their consumption to occur earlier in the evening, due to the potentially disruptive effects that alcohol can have on the quality of our sleep.

“There’s quite a lot of evidence now that drinking alcohol late at night gets you to sleep earlier but disturbs your sleep so you have less quality of sleep,” he said.

“Really, we should be perhaps promoting wine early on as the aperitif and in the early stages of the meal, not maybe as much right at the end with the cheese as I do and overdo it.”

And the amount one drinks is also key to whether drinkers are helping or harming their overall health with their wine consumption.

“The window only seemed to be between one or two glasses of red wine,” Spector explained.

[This] makes sense because we don’t think it’s the alcohol per se that’s helpful, we know that’s toxic for the body and if you give alcohol to gut microbes they don’t like it, they only like the by-product.

“You’re having a toxic effect on the gut microbes if you’re having too much alcohol.”

And drinking earlier in the day is likely to be more beneficial, because alcohol can impact sleep, which is crucial for good health.

“There’s quite a lot of evidence now that drinking alcohol late at night gets you to sleep earlier but disturbs your sleep so you have less quality of sleep,” he said.

“Really, we should be perhaps promoting wine early on as the aperitif and in the early stages of the meal, not maybe as much right at the end with the cheese as I do and overdo it.”

Read more:

Light-to-moderate drinking can lower heart attack risk, study says

Is red wine really good for your gut?