Just in time for New Year’s Eve festivities, a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition last week revealed that champagne is good for the heart. Reported in The Daily Telegraph, the research has “found that champagne has the same health benefits as previously found in red wine.”
The study team’s leader, Dr. Jeremy Spencer of the University of Reading in the U.K., told the newspaper, “We have found that a couple of glasses a day has a beneficial effect on the walls of blood vessels, which suggests champagne has the potential to reduce strokes and heart disease. It is very exciting news.”
The research set out to answer the question regarding polyphenol levels in champagne. The antioxidant was known to be present in red wine and absent from white wine, but as champagne contains both red and white grapes there was uncertainty over polyphenol levels.
This is particularly good news for the champagne industry, as this research comes at a time when champagne sales are declining continually, particularly in the US.
And the benefits are not limited to alcoholic drinks. The study also found high levels of the antioxidant in cocoa beans, meaning a mug of hot chocolate is just as as good. Except, Dr. Spencer points out, “It doesn’t seem as much fun somehow.”
Other sparkling wine alternatives, such as cava and Prosecco have also been found to contain the antioxidants.
