Moderate wine consumption is good for health

Wine and health: "The Assoenologi symposium in Naples made it clear that moderate wine use is good for health. We do not accept statements that are daughters, perhaps, of a desire for prominence," this was President Riccardo Cotarella's response to immunologist Antonella Viola, who had made harsh statements about wine consumption.

The national president of Assoenologi, Riccardo Cotarella, returns to the "wine and health" theme that was the main theme of the recent symposium that the Association of Italian Oenologists and Winemakers organized in Naples. He does so in light of recent statements made by Dr. Antonella Viola - a researcher and lecturer at the University of Padua - on the radio program "Mondo Nuovo" on Rai Radio 1. During her speech, the immunologist stated, among other things, that "even moderate alcohol consumption damages the brain and increases the risk of tumors." This comes in the aftermath of the European Union's permission for Ireland to include health "alerts" on labels that are placed on bottles of alcohol and spirits.

Here is President Cotarella's statement, "The symposium that Assoenologi organized in Naples was attended by 'real' doctors and scientists from all over the world. They took part in the event with detailed reports and research leading to a unanimous opinion and that is: moderate and intelligent consumption of wine can only be good for health. And I emphasize that this is not acclaimed by us oenologists who are certainly not doctors, but by distinguished medical and scientific professionals. It was reiterated how important a healthy lifestyle is, which finds its highest expression in the famous Mediterranean diet - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - which includes, precisely, the moderate use of wine during meals. And the so-called 'French paradox' was also mentioned, namely: despite the fact that the French eat a lot of fatty foods they rarely tend to develop heart disease compared to other populations and this would be attributed to the fact that they consume red wine especially in some specific areas of the Transalpine country."

"In short," Cotarella continues, "the two-day symposium I believe has put a definitive point on the topic of wine and health, the reports produced leave no interpretative doubts, and the clear message that has emerged is also that everything we eat and drink should be consumed in moderation, and this applies to alcohol as much as to any other food. But in the last few hours, unfortunately, we have heard a stance that is diametrically opposed to what the doctors present at the symposium have said, and so we end up with statements made by an immunologist doctor that leave those who listen to them bewildered. I do not intend, as president of Assoenologi, to enter in any way into controversy with the professor, but I believe that a sense of responsibility is needed before making judgments on a subject as sensitive as human health related to food intake. And if certain statements are made to a national radio program, the sense of responsibility should be maximum and not leave, instead, room for - perhaps - any desire for unjustified protagonism."