In their recent study based on statistics from 40 countries, Artaud-Wild et all mentioned that wine may be protective against.

In their recent study based on statistics from 40 countries, Artaud-Wild et all mentioned that wine may be protective against coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality when the population consumed large amounts of saturated fats. This is what we had previously reported,2 suggesting that wine drinking was counteracting the effects of dairy fats and cigarette smoking.3 Nevertheless, Artaud-Wild et all concluded that it was probably the higher consumption of vegetable foods that protected France from CHD as compared with Germany, the United Kingdom, and Finland. Certainly, a high consumption of vegetable foodstuffs constitutes a healthy habit observed in Mediterranean countries. However, the question raised is whether the French paradox, that is, a high level of risk factors but the lowest mortality rate from CHD in the Western world, can be attributed to vegetable foods or to wine. In recent WHO statistics (1987 to 1989),4 the agestandardized mortality rate from CHD for men was 99 (per 100 000) for France, 111 for Spain, 143 for Italy, and 133 for Greece. In these countries, the consumption of vegetable foods(vegetables plus vegetable fats plus fruit) was respectively 470, 697,985, and 1287 calories per day for 1985 to 1988.5 Thus, an adequate comparison should be provided not by selecting countries but by studying countries similar in development and reliability of statistics, for example, the 23-member countries of the OECD.5 WHO4 reported the annual mortality statistics for 22 of these 23 countries,and 21 (excluding Japan, using sake instead) consumed atleast 10 g of wine per person per day.5 6 In these 21 countries used in the present study, the univariate correlation coefficients between CHD mortality and the intake of various foodstuffs were as follows: vegetables, -0.48 (P<.05); vegetable fats, -0.44 (P<.05);fruit, -0.28 (NS); dairy products, 0.66 (P<.001); and wine, -0.87(P<.001). For wine consumption, the log was used because theinverse relation between wine and CHD mortality is not linear butexponential. In stepwise multivariate regression analysis, only two foodstuffs were still significantly correlated with CHD mortality, namely, dairy products(+) (P<.05) and wine(-) (P<.001), with a multiple r=.90 (P<.0001). In the last 5 years, prospective studies on a total of more than 600 000 subjects7 have consistently shown that moderate alcohol drinking was associated with a 20% to 60% lower risk of CHD. In addition, in a study on 128 934 adults,8 wine drinkers had a 30% to 40% lower risk for cardiovascular death compared with liquor drinkers. In conclusion, further epidemiologic studies are certainly required to elucidate the protection afforded by wine on CHD.

Nevertheless, in the 21 most industrialized countries drinking wine, the protective effect of wine appears to be much more convincing than that of other vegetable foods. This is especially true in France,23 with the largest consumption of wine in the world.

Oronary heart disease (CHD) mortality when the population consumed large amounts of saturated fats. This is what we had previously reported,2 suggesting that wine drinking was counter acting the effects of dairy fats and cigarette smoking.3 Nevertheless, Artaud-Wild et all concluded that it was probably the higher consumption of vegetable foods that protected France from CHD as compared with Germany, the United Kingdom, and Finland. Certainly, a high consumption of vegetable foodstuffs constitutes a healthy habit observed in Mediterranean countries. However, the question raised is whether the French paradox, that is, a high level of risk factors but the lowest mortality rate from CHD in the Western world, can be attributed to vegetable foods or to wine.

In recent WHO statistics (1987 to 1989),4 the age standardized mortality rate from CHD for men was 99 (per 100 000) for France, 111 for Spain, 143 for Italy, and 133 for Greece. In these countries, the consumption of vegetable foods (vegetables plus vegetable fats plus fruit) was respectively 470, 697, 985, and 1287 calories per day for 1985 to 1988.5 Thus, an adequate comparison should be provided not by selecting countries but by studying countries similar in development and reliability of statistics, for example, the 23-member countries of the OECD.5 WHO4 reported the annual mortality statistics for 22 of these 23 countries, and 21 (excluding Japan, using sake instead) consumed at least 10 g of wine per person per day.5 6 In these 21 countries used in the present study, the univariate correlation coefficients between CHD mortality and the intake of various foodstuffs were as follows: vegetables, -0.48 (P<.05); vegetable fats, -0.44 (P<.05); fruit, -0.28 (NS); dairy products, 0.66 (P<.001); and wine, -0.87 (P<.001). For wine consumption, the log was used because the inverse relation between wine and CHD mortality is not linear but exponential. In stepwise multivariate regression analysis, only two foodstuffs were still significantly correlated with CHD mortality, namely, dairy products(+) (P<.05) and wine(-) (P<.001), with a multiple r=.90 (P<.0001). In the last 5 years, prospective studies on a total of more than 600 000 subjects7 have consistently shown that moderate alcohol drinking was associated with a 20% to 60% lower risk of CHD. In addition, in a study on 128 934 adults,8 wine drinkers had a 30% to 40% lower risk for cardiovascular death compared with liquor drinkers. In conclusion, further epidemiologic studies are certainly required to elucidate the protection afforded by wine on CHD. Nevertheless, in the 21 most industrialized countries drinking wine, the protective effect of wine appears to be much more convincing than that of other vegetable foods. This is especially true in France,23 with the largest consumption of wine in the world.

En recientes estudios basados en datos estadísticos de 40 paises se menciona que el vino quizás puede ser protector contra enfermedades coronarias cuando la población consume gran cantidad de grasas saturadas. Se concluye que quizás el alto consumo de vegetales es lo que puede prevenir a la población francesa de enfermedades coronarias si comparamos con la población de Alemania, Reino Unido y Finlandia. Ciertamente una alta consumición de vegetales constituye un hábito saludable ampliamente observado en los países mediterráneos.