Is wine healthy? U.S. government, alcohol industry pour $100M into study to find out

One study suggests red wine is good for you, another warns you to lay off the booze. When it comes to alcohol, there are an awful lot of mixed messages.

Now the U.S. National Institutes for Health is launching a $100-million clinical trial to figure out whether a daily drink really does help to fight against heart disease, specifically heart attacks, according to the New York Times.

But guess who’s helping to fund the pricey research? Turns out, the alcohol industry is digging into its deep pockets to help back the research.

Five companies put up $67.7 million to a foundation tied to the NIH, Margaret Murray, director of the Global Alcohol Research Program at the NIH, told the American outlet.

READ MORE: A daily glass of wine for better health? Canadian study says it’s too good to be true

The companies are Heineken, Carlsberg, Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Critics are already worried that allowing the booze industry to cover the lion’s share of the costs could tamper with the research. The NIH, for its part, is promising that the industry won’t have an influence over the findings, though.

“This study could completely backfire on the alcoholic beverage industry, and they’re going to have to live with it,” Dr. George F. Koob, director of the NIH’s alcohol institute, told the Times.

“The money from the foundation for the NIH has no strings attached. Whoever donates to the fund has no leverage whatsoever – no contribution to the study, no input to the study, no say whatsoever,” Koob said.

READ MORE: Alcohol ‘directly causes’ seven forms of cancer, scientist suggests

The study will be a global effort – scientists are recruiting about 8,000 volunteers aged 50 and older from 16 parts of the world through the U.S., Europe, Africa and South America.

The scientists will be tasking participants to quit alcohol or to consume a single drink a day for the six-year trial. Then, the researchers will see if moderate drinkers or abstainers fare better when it comes to heart health — from heart attacks to stroke to dying from heart disease.

(The group that’ll be drinking daily will be partially reimbursed for their alcohol expenses.)

The clinical trials will be run by notable researchers from around the world in Boston, Baltimore, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Barcelona, to name a few.

READ MORE: Alcohol an often overlooked cancer risk, Cancer Care report warns

Pernod Ricard, one of the alcohol companies funding the study, said the company poured money into the research simply because of the sheer magnitude of the clinical trial.

“We’ve never seen a study of such scope or calibre,” a spokesperson told the NYT. The spokesperson conceded that the companies will “have no say” in the research.

“We’re hoping the results nevertheless are going to be good. And we’re optimistic they will be.”

Handfuls of studies have tied alcohol, in moderate doses, to health benefits from improving heart health and extending life expectancy. Others have tied booze to several cancers and liver disease.

READ MORE: Canadians’ drinking habits may lead to harm, chronic disease

Last year, University of Victoria scientists suggested that moderate drinking and its so-called benefits are exaggerated. “Occasional drinkers” – or people who have one drink per week – are the healthiest, according to their review.

“I drink and I really like it and I wish it was true it would make me live longer but I try to be careful. When science is bad, it’s important to question it,” Dr. Tim Stockwell, the study’s lead author, told Global News.

“I don’t think people should be drinking two to three drinks a day thinking that their health will be better … it’s important to raise serious doubts about these too-good-to-be-true stories that have circulated so widely about moderate drinking,” he explained.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I drink and I really like it and I wish it was true it would make me live longer but I try to be careful. When science is bad, it's important to question it," Dr. Tim Stockwell, the study's lead author, told Global News.</p><p>"I don't think people should be drinking two to three drinks a day thinking that their health will be better … it's important to raise serious doubts about these too-good-to-be-true stories that have circulated so widely about moderate drinking," he explained.

Scientists have been saying there are antioxidants called polyphenols found in wine that could be what’s helping to boost health. Stockwell says to take these findings with a grain of salt.

READ MORE: Are dark chocolate and red wine not healthy after all?

But just a grain. Too much salt could be putting your heart health at risk, too. But that’s another story.

Eighty per cent of Canadians drink, according to 2013 estimates. At least 3.1 million people drank enough to be at risk of immediate injury, and another 4.4 million are at risk of chronic health conditions, including liver cirrhosis and cancer, the Public Health Agency of Canada report warned.

carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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