Alternative Health Blog

Chalk up another benefit for your nightly syrah or pinot grigio. A new study from researchers at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., shows that a daily glass of wine a day reduces the risk of suffering a disorder called Barrett's esophagus. This condition involves damage to the lining of the passage that travels from the mouth to the stomach. Unchecked, Barrett’s disease can become cancerous.

Dr. Al Kubo, lead researcher, writes in the recent issue of the medical journal Gastroenterology that he and his colleagues are not certain about how wine might have this effect. But the study did factor out other possible mitigating circumstances. Best guess is there are plant properties in wine that prevent damage to esophagus lining cells.

Here’s an interesting finding: Beer or alcoholic drinks did not produce a similar preventive outcome for the esophagus. Only wine was found to protect against Barrett’s.

Some wine country industry officials (in nearby Napa Valley and other vineyards far and wide) might be championing the provocative numbers in this study—those individuals who drank seven or more glasses of wine per week are 66 percent less likely to develop Barrett’s esophagus compared to non-alcohol drinkers. But it is always wise to remember that non-drinkers won’t necessarily benefit from beginning a wine habit.

Even so, anyone with a family history of esophagus problems (some heartburn conditions included here) might consider making wine their wind-down beverage of choice compared to, say, a nightly beer or vodka tonic.

Bob Condor blogs for Alternative Health Journal every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.