A new study has revealed that wine only protects against cardiovascular disease in people who exercise.
Researcher Milos Taborsky said that this is the first randomised trial comparing the effects of red and white wine on markers of atherosclerosis (1) in people at mild to moderate risk of CVD and they found that moderate wine drinking was only protective in people who exercised. Red and white wine produced the same results.
The study revealed that there was no difference between HDL cholesterol levels at the beginning of the study compared to one year in people who had either red or white wine, whereas LDL cholesterol was lower in both groups at one year while total cholesterol was lower only in people who had red wine.
Researchers added that the current study shows that the combination of moderate wine drinking plus regular exercise improves markers of atherosclerosis, suggesting that this combination is protective against cardiovascular disease.