LAS VEGAS, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- More than three glasses of red wine a week may reduce the risk for significant colorectal neoplasia, or colon cancer, says a U.S. study.
Dr. Joseph C. Anderson and his colleagues at Stony Brook University in New York compared the drinking habits of 360 red and white wine drinkers with similar lifestyles to examine the prevalence of colorectal neoplasia and found that red wine dramatically reduced the risk of colorectal neoplasia by 68 percent -- but white wine did not.
The researchers suspect the high content of the compound resveratrol in red wine plays a key role. Resveratrol is an anti-fungal chemical that occurs naturally under the skin of red wine grapes.
"The concentration is significantly higher in red wine than in white wine, because the skins are removed earlier during white-wine production, lessening the amount that is extracted," says Anderson, who says a healthy lifestyle is essential in cutting the risk of colorectal neoplasia, and he does not advocate drinking red wine if people do not drink currently.
The findings are being presented at the 71st Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Las Vegas.
