Refuting previous researches, a latest study shows that red wine and chocolate do not have a positive impact on health.
Researchers examined the health of 783 older people living in two towns from the Chianti region of Italy. They were asked about their daily food habits and were told to give their urine samples, which the researchers used to measure resveratrol levels. They were tracked for nine years.
The research team noted that 268 men and women died, 174 people were diagnosed with heart disease and 34 developed cancer. They also examined the possible association between resveratrol levels and risks of death, heart disease or cancer. However, no link was established.
"The thinking was that certain foods are good for you because they contain resveratrol. We didn't find that at all," professor Richard Semba from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a press release. "The story of resveratrol turns out to be another case where you get a lot of hype about health benefits that doesn't stand the test of time."
The team stated that if there are any benefits from red wine, dark chocolate and berries, it would be only after a combination of different ingredients in a person's diet.
"It's just that the benefits, if they are there, must come from other polyphenols or substances found in those foodstuffs," Semba concluded. "These are complex foods, and all we really know from our study is that the benefits are probably not due to resveratrol."
The study, 'Resveratrol Levels and All-Cause Mortality in Older Community-Dwelling Adults,' was published in the 'JAMA Internal Medicine.'
