The truth about red wine

Two years ago, a red wine study came out and was misinterpreted to mean that drinking a glass of red wine had the same health benefits as an hour at the gym.

It’s not true.

Jason Dyck, a University of Alberta researcher who headed the study, says that the group examined whether resveratrol, a compound found in grapes, could increase a person’s capacity for exercise. No red wine was used in the study. Dyck says they never advocated ditching the gym either.

What they did find was that the compound could help increase the exercise benefits for a person who has a limited capacity for working out (like those with serious illnesses or heart ailments). The amount of resveratrol needed though would have to come much more concentrated than a glass of wine. Think, performance-enhancing supplements.

So one glass of wine? Not quite. You would need to drink hundreds of bottles to get the benefits says Dyck.

And we don’t recommend skipping the gym either.