A drop of wine with dinner brings health benefits, researchers find

Drinking a glass or two of wine at mealtimes is probably good for you, going by recent analysis carried out by doctors in Spain and the US.

In work published by the American Medical Association (AMA), the team said they found an "attenuation of excess mortality" among older people who drank only wine and while eating.

Wine contains antioxidants that help with gut and heart health and is often taken at dinner by people who stick largely to a Mediterranean diet, which is widely lauded for its health benefits.

Other recently published work has pointed to a positive link between moderate intake and mental health, particularly if the wine consumed is of good quality.

However, some studies have challenged the view that drinking wine in moderation or drinking it with meals is good for you. Others have said that while a little wine does no harm, other forms of drinking are invariably bad, no matter what the amount.

The team behind the latest research published by AMA said their investigation turned up a "detrimental association" between other forms of "low-risk drinking" and higher mortality.

This link was clearer for those with "socioeconomic or health-related risk factors," according to the researchers, who examined health data for over 130,000 elderly British people.

There appeared to be no effect from low-risk drinking on people who did not have separate health or financial problems, according to the team, which included scientists from Harvard University and Madrid’s Autonomous University.

In other words, it appears that moderate wine intake, and with a meal, may be the only healthy kind of boozing, though the Spanish-American research team said their findings about wine with dinner warrant "further investigation."