Drinking red wine increases your risk of getting cancer. Warning labels should say so |
A 1991 “60 Minutes” segment framed red wine as the missing link between buttery French cuisine and surprisingly low heart disease rates. Recent research shows that drinking alcohol, including red wine, increases cancer risk.
Unlike hard liquor and beer, which are associated with excess, red wine has enjoyed a special status in America in recent decades. A glass of wine with a meal is viewed in the same category as olive oil, simple cuisine and daily walks: part of a vaguely European prescription for vitality and longevity.
Despite an increase in awareness around the health risks associated with alcohol consumption, wine is still insulated, animating dinner tables, book clubs and nutrition columns long after the research that once propped it up began to buckle.
The red wine myth took hold with the best of intentions. Early observational studies indicated that wine might confer cardiovascular advantages, conflating correlation and causation. Many of us recall the notorious 1991 “60 Minutes” segment on the “French Paradox” that framed red wine as the missing link between buttery cuisine and surprisingly low heart disease rates. Red wine sales jumped 40% in response and endured for years.
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Gradually, science has shaken these associations. Studies show that the cardiovascular benefits of moderate drinking disappear when compared to nondrinkers with similar health habits. Alcohol, including red wine, is a Group 1 carcinogen, like radiation and tobacco. Still, red wine has withstood these shifts in awareness, protected by decades of narrative momentum and an industry........