For us in Italy, wine is history, culture, tradition. It is landscape, perfume, earth. And yet, we have to deal with everything else, with research, with scientific progress, with the truth. Let’s start with the diet. Two glasses of wine would contain the recommended daily sugar limit for adults: this is revealed by a research conducted by the Alcohol Health Alliance in Great Britain, which examined more than thirty bottles of red, white and rosé, discovering that some hid over 59 grams of sugar, not to mention alcohol of course.
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But the focus remains that no nutrition claims are given on the bottle labels, so no one knows how many calories they are “drinking”. The British National Health Service recommends not to exceed 30 grams per day of free sugars, for this reason consumers are clamoring for clarification on the contents, caloric and otherwise, of a bottle of wine.
In addition, the analysis found that the products containing the most sugar are low-alcohol wines. But without the legal requirement to write the content on alcohol labels, drinkers opting for a less strong alcohol choice, perhaps thinking it is a healthier option, are unknowingly increasing their daily sugar intake. This can lead to an increased risk of health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and tooth decay.
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But the main problem with wine and alcohol in general is not just that of a few extra pounds, on the contrary. The physical damage resulting from excessive drinking is known, affecting multiple parts of the body, starting with the liver, with cirrhosis or neoplasms, but also diabetes, stroke and cardiovascular disorders. Alcohol can promote the onset of arterial hypertension, heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias. And puts you at a greater risk of developing cancer.
Drinking does not automatically lead to cancer, this must be clear, but it leads to a greater predisposition. Ethanol is in fact considered the main carcinogenic compound. But what are the mechanisms that intervene? Alcohol can damage cells because, once ingested, our body transforms it into a chemical substance called acetaldehyde, classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in group 1, which is a compound with a certain correlation of carcinogenicity, when associated with the consumption of alcohol. The substance can damage or permanently break the double helix structure of DNA within hematopoietic cells, also making them unable to repair the damage. The cells in turn can proliferate in an uncontrolled way, producing abnormalities and consequently tumors.
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Increased levels of estrogen and insulin also cause more frequent cell division, increasing the risk. Alcohol can also induce oxidative stress which damages DNA and prevents it from repairing and making the cells in the mouth and throat more likely to absorb carcinogens.
The most common types of cancer that arise with alcohol abuse concern the breast, intestine, mouth, throat, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, liver. 10% of cancer cases in men and 3% in women would be attributable to drinking, but there is no indication of any safe quantities of consumption. About 11% of alcohol-related cancer cases in the WHO European region are reported to be related to “moderate” daily consumption.
But there are also those who argue that wine drunk in moderation can do you good. A study published in BMC Medicine, by University College of London researchers, states that consuming half a glass of wine a day for people suffering from cardiovascular disease may be associated with a decreased risk of heart attack, stroke, angina or death.
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Meanwhile, a few days ago the European Parliament rejected the “warnings” on wine labels (such as those present on cigarette packets, so to speak) and left free the sponsorship of drinks in events and demonstrations. There will be an invitation to moderate consumption but no health alert, as according to some governments, such as the Italian and French, there is a big difference between abuse and moderate and controlled use.
A step forward, however, has been made in the clarity of alcohol contents, which have so far remained not explicit. In the European Union from 1 January 2023, in accordance with the provisions of the new Common Agricultural Policy CAP 2023-2027, wine labels must also include a list of ingredients and nutritional values. The complete information will be available on a digital platform, the U label, which can be accessed with a QR on the bottle label. There you will read the list of ingredients, although not all: carbohydrates, saturated fatty acids, sugars, proteins, a nutritional picture and an invitation to be moderate.