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Genetics and Health

Alcohol-Free Red Wine Protects Against DNA Damage

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on December 23rd, 2005

Australian scientsts have found that drinking alcohol-free red wine appears to reduce DNA damage by 20 per cent. They studied six men aged 21-26 who had been on a diet low in plant phenols for two days after which they drank 300 millilitres of either complete red wine, red wine with the alcohol removed or alcohol alone.

Samples of their blood was irradiated with gamma radiation immediately before and then 30 minutes, one hour and two hours after drinking. Those who drank alcohol-free red wine significantly reduced DNA damage one and two hours after drinking. While catechins in red wine may explain part of the protective effect, there are other unknown factors involved.

In the future, Dr. Michael Fenech suggests that optimal levels of alcohol intake may be determined for each individual. I’m sure some of you are hoping that your optimal level is at least one bottle of wine or several bottles of beer worth.

ABC Science Online, December 22, 2005

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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health

3 opinions for Alcohol-Free Red Wine Protects Against DNA Damage

  • Deb
    Dec 23, 2005 at 9:14 pm

    Something in red wines gives me mild-to-severe migraines. I can drink a couple glasses of white wines with no ill effects. I wonder if there is a difference between red & white wines in regards to the variuos health studies that have been done.

  • Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD
    Dec 24, 2005 at 2:38 am

    Deb: You may find this from Professional Friends of Wine interesting -

    Headaches, affecting some people during or after consuming wine, may result from individual reactions to one or more of wines’ natural compounds. Red wine is suspected by some sufferers to trigger migraine headaches. Phenolic flavanoids (the same ones that provide anti-oxidant benefits) are a component in grape skins related to tannins and which clinical evidence has shown to be the culprits. Red wine has a much higher content than white wine of both tannins and flavanoids.

  • Deb
    Dec 24, 2005 at 9:28 am

    That is interesting- nice to know it isn’t just mindtricks, lol.

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