Drinking one glass of red wine a day slashes men’s risk of prostate cancer by around 12 per cent, new research suggests.
Yet, moderate consumption of white wine, such as Chardonnay, raises the risk of the disease by 26 per cent, a study found.
Red wine contains around 10 times more polyphenols, a type of antioxidant, than white, which may explain the findings, according to the researchers.
Lead author Professor Shahrokh Shariat, from the University of Vienna, said: ‘It has already been shown that polyphenols, which are predominantly found in red wine, can have a protective effect in other diseases and other types of cancer.’
Prostate cancer affects more than 47,000 new men in the UK every year.
One glass of red wine a day slashes men’s risk of prostate cancer by around 12 per cent (stock)
Antioxidants in red wine may prevent prostate cancer
Professor Shariat adds men should not be concerned over their moderate white-wine consumption providing they avoid other prostate-cancer risk factors, such as smoking and an excessive red-meat intake.
He believes the antioxidants in red wine may one day be used to help prevent prostate cancer.
The European Food Authority has previously stated that polyphenol-rich olive oil prevents blood cells clotting and reduces people’s risk of diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity.
How the research was carried out
The researchers analysed 18 studies that investigated the effect of drinking wine of any colour on men’s prostate-cancer risk.
Overall, the study review included around 611,000 patients.
One glass of wine a day was defined as moderate consumption.
The findings were published in the journal Clinical Epidemiology.
Just two glasses of wine reduces sleep quality by nearly 40%
This comes after research released earlier this month suggested just two glasses of wine reduces people’s quality of sleep by nearly 40 per cent.
Heavy alcohol consumption, which these researchers defined as two drinks a night in women and three in men, reduces people’s quality of shut eye by 39.2 per cent, a study found.
Previous research suggests alcohol causes people to spend less time in deep, restful sleep and more time in the rapid eye movement stage, which is when dreams occur.
Results imply young people suffer the effects of alcohol more than their older counterparts.
Study co-author Professor Tero Myllymäki, from the Tampere University of Technology, Finland, said: ‘When you’re physically active, or younger, it’s easy, natural even, to feel like you’re invincible.
‘However, the evidence shows that despite being young and active you’re still susceptible to the negative effects of alcohol on recovery when you are asleep.’