Scientists Clash Over Wine’s Health Effects

The debate over wine and health remains unsettled, with scientists, doctors and the wine industry presenting sharply different readings of the evidence as new studies continue to emerge. In Italy, the discussion has intensified after Silvio Garattini, the 97-year-old founder of the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, renewed his criticism of public efforts to promote wine and other alcoholic drinks. In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Garattini said alcohol is carcinogenic and argued that scientists should not suggest that drinking, even in small amounts, is good for health. He pointed to links between alcohol and several cancers, including esophageal cancer, and said that if people want to take risks, they may do so, but that researchers have a duty to give accurate information.

His comments came as other scientists gathered in Turin for a conference organized by Irvas, the Institute for Research on Wine, Nutrition and Health, where the focus was moderate wine consumption and its possible role within the Mediterranean diet. At the same time, a new group backed by the Veronesi family’s business interests in wine and retail, the International Academy for Healthy Drinking, has been trying to frame wine as a food with potential health benefits when consumed with meals and in moderation. The academy includes researchers from Italy and abroad and says its goal is to bring scientific evidence into a debate it считает too often reduced to slogans about alcohol alone.

The disagreement reflects a broader split in current research. Garattini has long argued for strict limits on alcohol and promotes a diet centered on vegetables, fruit, legumes and whole grains. He also says people should leave the table slightly hungry and avoid wine altogether. By contrast, researchers linked to Irvas and the new academy say wine should be considered in its dietary context, especially within Mediterranean eating patterns. They argue that wine is not simply alcohol in another form because it contains polyphenols and other compounds that may affect cardiovascular health and metabolism.

Recent studies have added fuel to both sides. At the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology, researchers reported that people who regularly drink moderate amounts of wine had lower mortality than non-drinkers and than people who mainly drank beer, cider or spirits. Another study published in the European Heart Journal by researchers at the University of Navarra, working with Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic, found that moderate wine consumption among people who closely followed the Mediterranean diet was associated with up to a 33% reduction in mortality. The authors said any benefit appeared tied not only to wine itself but also to the broader lifestyle around it.

Attilio Giacosa, president of Irvas, said during the Turin meeting that wine is increasingly being treated only as a source of alcohol, which he called an oversimplification. He said moderate consumption with meals in an adult Mediterranean diet has been associated with lower mortality risk and lower risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and diabetes. But he also said cancer risk must be addressed carefully. Alcohol is a risk factor for cancer, he said, but that risk is tied to prolonged abuse rather than moderate intake within a balanced lifestyle. He added that some people, including women with a predisposition to breast cancer, should avoid alcohol entirely.

Emanuele Albano, professor of general pathology at the University of Eastern Piedmont, said alcohol’s effects depend on dose, duration of exposure and individual factors. He noted that wine is a complex product that includes ethanol as well as bioactive substances whose effects are still being studied. That complexity makes simple conclusions difficult, he said.

One of the most closely watched recent analyses came from data presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting using information from the UK Biobank. Researchers found that heavy drinking was linked to higher overall mortality and higher deaths from cancer and cardiovascular disease. Compared with non-drinkers or occasional drinkers, high-volume drinkers had a 24% higher risk of death from any cause, a 36% higher risk of cancer death and a 14% higher risk of heart disease death. But among moderate drinkers, beverage choice appeared to matter: those who drank wine showed a 21% lower cardiovascular mortality rate than those who chose other alcoholic drinks. The authors linked that difference both to wine’s chemical composition and to the fact that it is often consumed with meals.

The Navarra study went further by separating wine from other parts of the Mediterranean diet. It combined data from two long-running cohorts known as Predimed and Sun and followed more than 18,000 people for over 20 years. In Predimed, participants who followed the Mediterranean diet but excluded wine saw a 23% reduction in overall mortality. When moderate wine intake was added — defined as at least seven glasses a week but fewer than three a day — mortality reduction rose to 33%, while cardiovascular events also declined. Once intake rose above three glasses a day, however, the benefit disappeared.

The United States has also shifted its language on alcohol. Under earlier Biden administration discussions there had been talk of warning labels on bottles and stricter messaging around “no safe level” arguments. But the latest 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services stop short of giving specific numbers for wine or other drinks. Instead they offer a broad recommendation: limit alcohol consumption for better health.

For now, scientists remain divided over how much weight should be given to studies suggesting benefits from moderate wine drinking versus those emphasizing alcohol’s known harms. The result is an argument shaped by medicine, nutrition science, public health policy and Italy’s own cultural attachment to wine at the table — an argument that continues to evolve as new data arrive from laboratories, hospitals and population studies around the world.