Joanna Cosgrove12.01.08
A New Coup for Red Wine
European study documents the omega 3-boosting effect of wine.
By
Joanna Cosgrove
Online Editor
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One of the study researchers, Romina di Giuseppe, MS, of the Laboratory of Genetic and Environmental Epidemiology Research Laboratories “John Paul II” Center for High Technology Research and Education in Biomedical Sciences at Catholic University in Campobasso, Italy, explained that her team believed that Mediterranean dietary components, even if well known, have many hidden secrets. “It is well recognized that high concentrations of dietary and plasma n–3 fatty acids (FAs) are protective against coronary artery disease and sudden cardiac death, and since alcohol intake might influence the metabolism of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), we hypothesized, together with Michel de Lorgeril, a French colleague, that alcohol-induced increase in marine n–3 FAs might be a possible original mechanism of the protective effect of alcohol,” she said, stressing that the teams’ research philosophy is to study the beneficial effects of eating and drinking in moderation.
Although the mechanisms relating alcohol consumption to protection against coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke are not completely defined, Ms. di Giuseppe added that her team was spurred to examine how the antioxidant properties of polyphenols might counteract PUFA oxidation. “We expected that components of wine other than alcohol (polyphenols) might exert these effects,” she said.
A Look Inside the Study
Funded by the European Union under Key Action 1: Food, Nutrition and Health QLK1-CT-2000-00100, IMMIDIET’s core aim was to acquire fundamental knowledge in the field of cardiovascular disease, with a special focus on the interaction between genetics and lifestyle.
At the core of the study was an intriguing lesson regarding Italian migration. Belgium served as a home based for thousands of Italians, mostly from the Abruzzo region, who worked in the mines, however many of those emigrants never returned to Italy, choosing instead to remain in their new country. Some of the emigrants married Belgian partners. While their genes remained the same, the questions were “How much ‘Italy’ is still there in their diet?” “How much did they transmit it to their spouses?” and “How many Italian emigrants assimilated dietary habits of the country in which they were guests?” In this framework, the role of genetic factors and lifestyle were assessed to explore new ways in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
The IMMIDIET study examined 1604 married couples from three geographical areas: southwest London, U.K.; Limburg, Belgium, and Abruzzo, Italy. All participants underwent a comprehensive medical examination, including a one year recall food frequency questionnaire to assess their dietary intake, alcohol consumption included.
In the first phase of the study the couples involved were formed by people from the same area: Italians married to Italians (in the Abruzzo region), Belgians married to Belgians (in the Limburg area), and English married to English (in the southeast part of London).
The second phase recruited mixed Italian–Belgian couples to understand if, acquiring dietary habits from Abruzzo, the Belgian partner changed his/her own risk regarding heart diseases.
This population study yielded the insight that people drinking moderate amounts of alcohol—one drink a day for women and two for men—had higher concentrations of omega 3 fatty acids in plasma and red blood cells independently of their fish intake.
To take the new knowledge one step further, researchers from Catholic University of Campobasso, in Italy, and from University of Grenoble, in France, turned their attention on the variety of alcoholic beverages consumed in order to see whether the high levels of omega 3 fatty acids detected might be ascribed to alcohol itself or to other substances.
“From our previous studies we know that association between wine drinking and increased concentration of omega 3 fatty acids have been observed,” said Michel de Lorgeril, from the University of Grenoble, partner of the IMMIDIET project and co-leader of the study. “Nevertheless, it was not possible to separate the effects of wine from those of beer or spirits. Our study of three populations with different dietary habits and different consumption of alcoholic beverage types allowed us to explore this aspect.”
“Analysis carried out on different alcoholic beverages,” argued Licia Iacoviello coordinator of the IMMIDIET study at Catholic University of Campobasso, “showed that the association between alcohol and omega 3 fatty acids was present in both wine drinkers and beer or spirits drinkers. However, the association was stronger between wine drinking and omega 3 fatty acids levels. This suggests that components of wine, other than alcohol, are associated with omega 3 fatty acid concentration. We may guess this effect can be ascribed to polyphenols.”
Mr. de Lorgeril considered the data to be a major finding, opening a new window in the field of cardiovascular disease prevention. “Beyond the alcohol issue, our results raise crucial questions regarding the effects of polyphenols on lipids (both in blood and cell membranes) and possibly of lipids on polyphenols,” he said.
Ms. di Giuseppe added that she and her team were surprised by the results of the study. “Interaction analyses suggested to us a different pathway of association according to type of alcoholic beverages (only wine drinkers as compared with only beer or spirits drinkers). In fact, analyses carried out according to type of alcoholic beverages showed that the association between alcohol and marine n–3 FAs was present in both wine drinkers and beer or spirits drinkers,” she said. “However, adjustment for alcohol content of alcoholic beverages, while completely abolishing the association with n–3 FAs in beer or spirits drinkers, maintained or even strengthened the association with main ‘marine’ n-3 fatty acids in wine drinkers. The role of wine rather than alcohol surprised us indeed!
A full account of the IMMIDIET study results will be published in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
