The term 'French paradox' refers to the observation that while both the French and Americans have a diet high in saturated fats, smoke cigarettes and exercise little—which are all risk factors for cardiovascular disease—the French have a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease than that of the Americans;
36% compared with 75%.
The difference in risk has been attributed to the consumption of alcohol and, , in particular, red wine.
The French consume 60 L per capita of wine per year, while the Americans only consume 7.7 L per year.
Australians, who consume 18.1 L per capita of wine per year, have a risk of cardiovascular disease in between that of the French and the Americans.
Recent research suggests that the regular and moderate consumption of alcohol, and in particular wine, may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 50%.
Furthermore, your overall lifespan may also be significantly increased. Moderate consumption is considered as approximately three to four standard drinks of alcohol per day for men and one to two for women, where a standard drink is 10 g of alcohol or approximately 100 mL of wine.
The consumption of alcohol and wine above this moderate amount will, conversely, increase your risk of cardiovascular and other diseases, and hence decrease your overall lifespan.
Recent research suggests that the regular and moderate consumption of alcohol and wine promotes both short-term and long-term cardioprotective effects.
For example, regular consumption prolongs and maintains these short-term cardioprotective effects on blood clotting and on the plasma concentration of cholesterol.
Recent research also suggests that the cardioprotective effects of wine are imparted by the alcohol component (approximately 75% of the effects) and by the wine-specific phenolic compounds and their polyphenolic forms (approximately 25% of the effects).
Phenolic compounds, such as anthocyanins and tannin, give wine its characteristic colour and flavour, and red wine typically has a 200-fold greater concentration of phenolic compounds than does white wine.
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