New study suggests that red wine, chocolate provide no health benefits
Digital Reporter
Wednesday, May 14, 2014, 2:16 PM - New research suggests that the antioxidant resveratrol found in red wine, grapes and chocolate may not reduce the risk of heart disease or cancer.
The recent findings challenge the long-held belief that moderate consumption of red wine and dark chocolate can improve heart health.
"When it comes to diet, health and aging, things are not simple and probably do not boil down to one single substance, such as resveratrol," lead researcher Dr. Richard Semba told WebMD.
Researchers followed 800 men and women 65 years or older between 1998 to 2009 in two Italian villages, all of whom consume a diet rich in resveratrol.
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During the course of the study, 268 people died, 174 developed heart disease and 34 developed cancer.
Researchers did not find a significant difference the the death rate of people with higher resveratrol levels.
While previous studies suggest that red wine can reverse aging in mice there doesn't appear to be evidence this translates over to humans, researchers say.
The complete study can be found in the May 12 edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.
