The Big Issue – August 05, 2019

12 | BIGISSUE.COM 05-11 AUGUST 2019

fact/fiction. Old news, truthfully retold

FACTS. CHECKED

It’strue–butbeforeyouupgradethewinecellaron

medicalgrounds,itisworthnotingafewmajorcaveats.

Firstly,it’snothingtodowithalcohol.

Thestoriesallstemmedfromresearchledbythe

UniversityatBuffalo’sresearchassociateprofessorYingXu

andprofessorXiaoxingYinofXuzhouMedicalUniversity

inChina.

Theirfindings,whichwerepublishedonJuly 15 inthe

journalNeuropharmacology, foundthatresveratrolcanhave

antidepressanteffects.

Thecompoundisfoundintheskinandseedsofgrapes

andberries.

Thestudyrevealedthattheenzymephosphodiesterase

4 (PDE4)couldcausedepressionandanxiety-like

behaviourwheninducedbycorticosterone,which

regulatesthebody’sresponsetostress.

However,PDE4lowersa moleculethatsignals

physiologicalchanges–cyclicadenosinemonophosphate

• inthebody,leadingtophysicalalterationsinthebrain.
  ButresveratrolinhibitedtheexpressionofPDE4and
  academicsbelievethatfindcouldlaythegroundworkfor
  theuseofresveratrolinantidepressants.
  Thisisallwellandgood,butitshouldbenotedthat
  so far, these tests have been run on mice – a fact

thatwasreportedmorewidelyinsomepublications

thanothers.

Forexample,MailOnlinereportedthatthemicewere

giventheequivalentofupto 10 mgofresveratrolper

kilogramoftheirbodyweightandputintocontexthow

muchthatwouldbeforahuman– 350 glassesofredwine

togetthedoseof 700 mgfora 70 kgperson.

IntheDailyStar, thefactthestudywasonmicegetsjust

a singlecursorymention.

Also,TheSun’sheadlineinfersa greaterinvolvement

withalcoholthanthisstudyreallywarranted.

Resveratroljustsohappenstobeinredwineand

thatisthekeyingredientbeingtestedhere–butitcan

alsobefoundinpeanuts,pistachios,grapes,blueberries,

cranberries,andevencocoaanddarkchocolate.

Onthewhole,thereportingofthisstudywasfair

andaccurate.

Butbeforeopeningabottletocelebrate,remember

thatalcoholshouldbeenjoyedinmoderation.

Addictionandtheimpactonmentalhealththatoften

followscanhaveadevastatingeffectonlives.

Sowhilethisisanimportantstudythatcouldlead

tocrucialmedicalbreakthroughs,don’t rush out to the

off-licence to celebrate just yet.

Does a glass of red wine at the end

of the day relieve stress and anxiety?

HOW IT WAS TOLD

Ifyoureachforabottleofredandacorkscrewattheendof

theday,storiesinthepresslastweekabouthowitcouldhelp

battlestressareworthtoasting.

Reportssuggestedthatunwindingwithwinedidjustthe

trickanditwasdowntoacompoundcalledresveratrol.

ThatwasthelinethatalotoftheUKpresswentfor.

MailOnlineledthewaywiththein-depthheadline:“Red

winecompoundopensdoorfornewdepressionandanxiety

treatmentbecauseit‘shutsdownenzymeinthebrainthought

tocausethedisorders’”.Youcouldprobablygetthrougha

bottlewhilereadingthatheadline.

MirrorOnlinewasabitmoresuccinctwith“Redwine

compoundcouldbeusedtotreatanxietyanddepression,study

claims”whiletheDailyStarkeptitshortandsweettoo.They

optedfor:“Aningredientinredwinecouldhelprelievestress,

researchshows”.

TheSun,however,choseadifferentline.Theysteeredaway

fromthesciencewiththeirheader,goingfor:“BOTTOMSUP!

HavingaglassofredwineafteraharddayreallyDOESrelieve

stressandanxiety,sayscientists”.

Itsoundstoogoodtobetrue–butcanwineloversdrink in

the news or should they tell the press to put a cork in it?

Illustration:Miles Cole

REPEATING

WORTH

12%

of British men and

8%

ofBritishwomen

drankalcohol

onatleastfivedays

intheweek

in 2017

Britsdrink

5.1per

centofthe

world’s wine

Thatamountedto

1.29MILLION

litres in 2017

Stats:

Drinkawar

e; Th

e Win

e Institut

e