Red wine and longevity: What you need to know

There are many ways to increase your lifespan; surprisingly, drinking red wine is one of them.

Red wine contains antioxidants from grapes, which makes it a powerful key to longevity when taken in the right amount. Your body needs antioxidants to fight off free radicals that contribute to overall aging.

Reverses physical signs of aging

Research indicates that drinking a glass of organic red wine can provide you with clearer and glowing skin.

Fewer wrinkles and fine lines

The skin-enhancing properties of red wine come from its high level of antioxidant content. This can help in protecting your skin against the damage caused by free radicals. Therefore, you may reduce signs of aging on the skin, like wrinkles and fine lines [1].

Red wine contains antioxidants such as polyphenols, a higher concentration of antioxidants, and resveratrol. Another two antioxidant contents of red wine are flavonoids and tannins. These can help slow down the natural aging process by preserving collagen and elastic fibers. This reduces fine lines and wrinkles, especially on the face.

Helps with sagging skin

Sagging skin is another sign of aging on the skin. In addition to its unique skin function, red wine also improves the appearance of sagging skin. Drinking one glass of red wine per day, specifically organic dry red wine, is known to improve the skin’s elasticity.

In fact, there are many skincare brands that offer various serums, creams and facial cleansers that are made from organic matter sourced out from pressed grapes to get their antioxidants.

Among the beneficial types of red wines, Oregon pinot noirs are found to be the healthiest because of their high levels of antioxidants and low sugar content. Another important content of red wine is the polyphenols, specifically resveratrol. This can be taken from grape seeds, skins and stems [2].

Minimizes skin lesions and adult acne

Red wine can also reduce actinic keratoses, which are precancerous skin lesions. It is good for minimizing facial pores, treating acne and preventing possible breakouts. This is due to its anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties.

Red wine and longevity: What you need to know

Boosts overall skin

The polyphenol content of red wine can help with some dark skin body parts caused by skin friction, providing you with more radiant skin. Red wine can also make your skin glow and have a youthful look, as it helps with the extraction of dead skin cells.

Furthermore, red wine has many skin-enhancing benefits. No wonder why it has become an incredible anti-aging ingredient in many skincare products today. Moderate drinking of red wine can ultimately transform your skin.

Skin generation

In Italy, health experts conducted a study that found wine extracts having remarkable antioxidant and anti-aging activity. After testing their anti-aging potential with the β-galactosidase colorimetric assay (a test used to observe the activity of an experiment variable).

Among red wine’s antioxidants, resveratrol helps extend your life. Given the positive experimental results, the researchers suggested that red wine has a huge potential for cosmetic products focused on skin regeneration [3].

There are numerous studies investigating the real scientific connection between red wine and beauty, specifically in anti-aging interventions.

The anti-aging mechanism roots in red wine’s antioxidant content that fights damaging free radicals. These directly contribute to the progression of aging and the development of age-related diseases.

Red wine, longevity and lifespan

Aside from being a perfect addition to your skincare regimen, your longevity can also increase just by drinking the recommended amount of red wine [4].

In the Mediterranean diet, wine is part of every meal, along with a wide variety of high-nutrient foods, like fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, seafood, yogurt, and olive oil.

When you follow the Mediterranean diet, moderate drinking of red wine should be part of your lifestyle. Excessive drinking of red wine may negatively affect your skin and overall health. Hence, you should only drink the recommended amount in order to obtain glowing skin and live five years longer.

In fact, the Mediterranean diet won as “the best diet” for three consecutive years [5] because it includes red wine in every meal and a bunch of highly nutritious foods perfect for all body functions, such as:

Fresh fruits
Vegetables
Legumes
Nuts and seeds
Olive oil
Seafood
Whole grains
Yogurt

A 2020 study published by the BMJ journal Gut revealed that following the Mediterranean diet for 12 months can greatly modify the gut microbiome of elderly people in ways that improve their brain function and extend their longevity [6].

Resveratrol as key to longevity

Among the antioxidants found in red wine, resveratrol is very beneficial for extending life expectancy. Health experts have been studying resveratrol because of its potential to help slow down the natural aging process by aiding in protecting the tissues inside the body.

Scientists at Harvard Medical School who focus on prioritizing studying the effect of resveratrol on mice discovered that when mice were given resveratrol, they became more agile and ran much more quickly compared to other mice in the scientific experiment. Resveratrol is then considered the one responsible for the anti-aging benefits of red wine.

In earlier research conducted on animals, the experimented mice were administered to consume a huge amount of red wine, which was equivalent to over 100 bottles a day. However, a group of scientists at the University of Wisconsin used a much lower amount of red wine in their own research.

The Wisconsin research ended with a positive result that red wine can help in longevity and added that it is essentially difficult to identify the precise number of glasses of wine, or bottles of wine, that is still beneficial to the body. Therefore, women and men should drink one glass of red wine a day [7].

Resveratrol as an anti-aging pill

Drinking numerous glasses of red wine on a daily basis can negatively affect health as it is still an alcoholic beverage. Consequently, scientists are searching for a way to consume the longevity antioxidant from red wine and make pills out of it.

In longevity studies, David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School is one of the esteemed experts who has been investigating the mechanism of resveratrol. Sinclair roughly estimated that about 100 years from now, the market would see anti-aging pills around in a typical pharmaceutical store.

However, with the fast and progressive recent studies on red wine, he becomes even more optimistic that the longevity pill will come to life in the next few years [8].

Overall longevity effects of red wine

Red wine gets its color from grape skin, which contains many antioxidant properties. With its high antioxidant content, red wine becomes an elixir of young energy and health, aside from its positive effects on the skin.

Repairs hair shafts

Hair loss is one of the many physical signs of aging. With red wine’s powerful antioxidants, you can be sure that it can help with your hair problems. The strength of red wine extracts is found able to restore your mane and repair each hair shaft.

Drinking red wine and doing your regular hair care routine can surprisingly make positive changes in your hair, resulting in radiant and voluminous hair. It also prohibits hair loss, lessens dandruff and promotes blood circulation in the scalp.

Lowers risk of age-related diseases

In terms of age-related diseases, red wine has several benefits to provide you as well. Moderate drinking of red wine can significantly reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases that are caused by aging.

Many individuals assume that red wine can reduce one’s cognitive function when one age; however, it is actually the opposite. Regular wine drinkers, in fact, have a reduced risk of developing memory decline.

Helps weight management

Not just that, according to some studies, drinking red wine helps slim down the body’s waistline [9].

You can also help lessen your cholesterol by drinking alcohol in moderation [10]. There are many tests and findings indicating that drinking one glass of red wine can be equivalent to an hour of exercise, but, of course, workouts are much more reliable and effective for weight loss.

Though the relationship between drinking alcohol and lowered cholesterol level is much more complex, it is known that the polyphenol compounds of red wine may reduce the bad form of cholesterol, which is the LDL. Therefore, moderate red wine consumption is associated with healthy cholesterol levels.

The bottom line

Consuming many glasses of red wine provides the opposite of what we all aim for, which is a healthy and thriving body. As an alcoholic beverage, excessive red wine consumption has fatal effects on your overall health in the long run. Therefore, you must only drink the recommended amount of red wine to live more years longer.

If you can’t drink red wine due to medical reasons, you can just eat whole foods that are rich in polyphenols and antioxidants, like pomegranates and blueberries.