Social media has been abuzz recently about how drinking champagne helps prevent dementia, a topic based on a study published two years ago. The story has gone viral, but before things get out of hand, experts from the National Health Service (NHS) in the U.K. gave their opinion about it.
In 2013, a study published in the journal Antioxidants and Redox Signaling revealed that drinking champagne improves memory and could potentially delay the onset of dementia and other degenerative brain disorders.
Researchers from the University of Reading reported that drinking two to three glasses of champagne every week could fight memory loss caused by aging. They attributed this to phenolic compounds present in the bubbly, which are derived from pinot noir and pinot meunier red grapes.
"These exciting results illustrate for the first time that the moderate consumption of champagne has the potential to influence cognitive functioning, such as memory," Jeremy Spencer, professor at the University of Reading, said in a 2013 news release. "Such observations have previously been reported with red wine, through the actions of flavonoids contained within it. However, our research shows that champagne, which lacks flavonoids, is also capable of influencing brain function through the actions of smaller phenolic compounds, previously thought to lack biological activity."
The NHS, however, does not agree. The agency said that the results of the study, which was done on adult rats, do not necessarily hold true and merely have a "limited direct applicability to humans."
"A slightly improved maze performance in a small number of rats does not necessarily translate into humans having a reduced risk of dementia from drinking champagne," NHS said in a news release issued on Monday
The agency also cautioned about the effects of too much alcohol consumption, saying that "the health risks of consuming large amounts of alcohol are well known."
"This study is from 2013, and would ideally need to be repeated on a larger number of rats by other researchers to make sure it is correct," NHS concluded.
