1. As with all alcohol, wine is dangerous.

FALSE: A small glass of wine (100 ml) with every meal is excellent for your health. It is the equivalent to a quarter of a litre per person per day. As a digestif it stimulates your appetite, aids digestion and the absorption of food. Nutritionally, it supplies at least seven amino-acids needed for the formation of proteins. It also helps your urinary system as it is a diuretic and bactericide (a substance which destroys bacteria). Furthermore, wine has strong anti-allergic and antioxidant properties, so is anti-aging and may protect against cancer. It can also help to prevent high blood pressure. It can improve memory. It can dilate arteries and may prevent heart attacks or a recurrence.  

2. You should not drink white wine if you have urinary problems.

FALSE: Because the alcohol contained in wine can act as a urinary antiseptic. However, it is true that red wine works better than white wine. 

3. People who suffer from diabetes should be teetotal.

 FALSE: They can drink but they should not drink more than a couple of glasses of wine with each meal. But beware, wine could destabilise diabetes because excess alcohol is stored in the liver as sugar and fat.  

4. Red wine is better for you.

TRUE: Because red wine supplies 1 mg more of calcium than white wine. Tannins also make red wine an excellent antioxidant.  

5. Red wine protects you from lung cancer.

 TRUE: But only if you do not smoke and you eat your five-a-day.  

6. People with allergies would benefit from drinking wine on a regular basis.

TRUE: Red wine contains anti-allergic properties such as procyanidin. Otherwise known as Vitamin P, it controls the permeability of arteries and blocks excess histamine, the element responsible for most allergies.

7. The French Paradox may be summed up as: “To live well, drink wine”.

 TRUE: This Paradox was born after it was noted that the French eat as much fat as the Danes, for example, but that the rate of mortality from cardiovascular disease was three times lower. This was explained by the fact that the French drank more wine.

Danish professor Morten Gronback proved that a moderate consumption of wine was leading to a 50% reduction of deaths from coronary disease. This meant, simply, that those who drink wine were living longer than teetotallers.

Vin et santé 2006 (Wine and health 2006) 11th year. Les éditions du voyage