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A heart surgeon has finally settled the debate on whether red wine is good for you. For years, there has been conflicting advice over the health benefits of drinking alcohol, with particular focus on red wine.

Countless media reports over the years have examined the benefits of drinking red wine, especially on the heart. And there has also been particular focus on the so-called "French paradox", which questions why people in France tend to live healthier lives than people in the UK despite diets heavier in wine and rich foods like butter and cream.

Even scientists and experts acknowledge the mixed messaging. In one study published in 2023, scientists said "strong controversy persists regarding the effect of red wine consumption and health". They said: "Guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancers discourage alcohol consumption in any form, but several studies have demonstrated that low red wine intake may have positive effects on cardiovascular diseases risk."

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But Dr Jeremy London has given a clear message on the issue. The board-certified cardiovascular surgeon with more than 25 years of experience said: "Alcohol falls into [the] category of something that's toxic to every cell in the body so I think limiting or entirely avoiding alcohol just makes good sense."

When asked specifically about red wine and the fact that it was supposed to be "good for your heart", he said: "The truth is that red wine and, in fact, the grape do contain polyphenols, which are antioxidants — think of them as anti-inflammatories — specifically resveratrol... and it has been found to dilate blood vessels. The amount of red wine you would have to drink to get a therapeutic level of resveratrol, however, would be astronomical. And the risks of the alcohol would far outweigh any benefit that you got from the resveratrol.

"What would be the takeaway? If you enjoy red wine, drink red wine. But don't drink red wine because you think it's good for your heart."

The British Heart Foundation also acknowledges that red wine contains antioxidants, but adds: "However, other foods – including grapes, blueberries and strawberries – provide antioxidants without the negative effects of alcohol."

It added: "BHF-funded research published in 2018 looking at the effect of alcohol consumption on heart and circulatory diseases concluded that the risks outweigh the benefits, and drinking more than the recommended limits will have a negative effect on your health. It’s therefore not a good idea to drink wine to protect your heart."

in a recent report, Vivek Murthy, the former surgeon general of the US Public Health Service warned that alcohol use had been directly linked with at least seven types of cancers: mouth, throat, larynx, oesophagus, breast, liver and colon and rectum. He also warned that even light or moderate alcohol consumption can increase a person’s risk of cancer.

And Dr Ernest Hawk, the vice president and head of the division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, told the New York Times: "There is no safe level of alcohol when it comes to cancer risk."

However, in the 2023 study mentioned above, published in the PubMed Central journal, researchers said a review of several other studies showed red wine consumption "mostly results in improvements in antioxidant status, thrombosis and inflammation markers, lipid profile, and gut microbiota, with conflicting results on hypertension and cardiac function".

It said: "Notably, beneficial effects were observed on oxidative stress, inflammation, and nephropathy markers, with a modest decrease in CVD risk in five out of seven studies that evaluated the effect of red wine consumption."

But it added that these studies were conducted mainly in patients with type 2 diabetes and were short-term studies, adding that additional long-term studies are needed to confirm these benefits and assess the potential risks associated with drink red wine.

Antioxidants are nutrients that fight free radicals in your body. Several vitamins, such as vitamins E and C, are antioxidants. All our bodies are full of free radicals, which serve important functions that are essential for our health — for example, as Healthline reports, your immune cells use free radicals to fight infections. But they can cause harm if there is an excessive level of them in your body. If there are more free radicals than antioxidants, it can lead to a condition called oxidative stress. This is linked to multiple illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. It is often caused by things like alcohol, smoking, too much stress and an unhealthy diet.