By Tim Korby

In 1991, the CBS news show 60 Minutes aired a segment titled “The French Paradox,” with French researcher Serge Renaud, Ph.D., discussing his ideas of why France had lower rates of cardiovascular disease than America, even though people in both countries consumed fatty diets.Renaud argued that the French people’s regular, moderate consumption of wine with meals, particularly red wine, was a significant reason for their better health. This sparked a 39 percent increase in wine sales in the U.S. and spurred research worldwide that continues today. In 1992, Harvard researchers included moderate alcohol consumption as one of the eight proven ways to reduce coronary heart disease risk.

More recent research has suggested that red wine is the most beneficial to your heart health, and the American Medical Association has agreed that red wine may lower cholesterol, reduce blood clotting, help regulate blood sugar, protect from or slow the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, may inhibit tumor development in certain types of cancer, prevent fat growth and even help stave off colds. This cardio-protective effect has been attributed to antioxidants present in the skin and seeds of red grapes. Scientists believe the antioxidants, called flavonoids, reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in three ways: by reducing production of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), by boosting high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) and  by reducing blood clotting. Furthermore, consuming a glass of wine along with a meal may favorably influence your lipid profiles following that meal.

Red wine is full of polyphenols, including the oft-written about resveratrol and the even more powerful proanthocyanidin. In fact, some red wines have more antioxidants than commercial grape juice, raw blueberries and even miracle fruits like Açaí. In the fruit juice category, a full-bodied red wine will even beat pomegranate juice. But which wines are highest in these antioxidants? This takes us back again to “The French Paradox.” The region of Gers in southwest France has the longest living people in France, with 401 of every 100,000 people older than 90 years of age, as opposed to the national average, which is 200 in 100,000. From this southwest region of France come the wines Madiran, Cahors, Bergerac and Saint-Mont, which are high in the fat-scraping antioxidant procyanidin. All of these wines are made with a high percentage of either Tannat or Malbec grapes, which have twice as many antioxidants as cabernet sauvignon and four times that of merlot. A good and affordable wine from Cahors, which is made from 100 percent Malbec, is Gouleyant by George Gigouroux. As for a Tannat-based wine, the Pueblo del Sol from Uruguay is a good and affordable choice.

A moderate amount of red wine is considered to be one glass a day for women or two glasses a day for men. And this is a case where drinking twice as much will give you twice as many antioxidants, but at that point, the risks outweigh the benefits. Research also shows that the most benefits of consuming wine are derived when enjoyed with food, as it helps with digestion, especially the digestion of fats and carbohydrates. So, in summary, enjoy a glass of red wine with dinner every evening and live longer.

Tim Korby is the director of Julio’s Liquors’ the-AngelShare.com online wine store. He started in the wine industry in California in 1976 and moved to the Boston area in 2000. In addition to being a retail wine buyer, he has taught wine courses since 1984 and has regularly written newsletters, articles and blogs since 1981. Korby travels the world several times each year to find just the right wines for his customers and to learn the true romance of the wines he sells.