Light a candle and enjoy sipping and savouring a glass of red wine at night – and pair it with the food you best enjoy – it’s an amazing experience for many.

But to think, believe, and say that this is good for your heart and longevity – is something that you should wait till you read this article (facts).

So how did all this start? In the early nineties the “60 Minutes” American talk show did a story based on an observational study that attempted to solve the mystery as to why the French and the mediterranean region had lower incidences of coronary heart disease in spite of their diet being high in dietary cholesterol, fats (cheese), and rich in carbohydrates. All this was an outcome of a study that showed that it could be because of the red wine and its ingredient “resveratrol” that is believed to be heart healthy and helps in longevity.

The story went viral, the French wineries made a killing – the Americans were made to believe that red wine was good and the discovery was finally christened “The French Paradox” – the belief that still holds good in all of us, even today.

There was no proven data – few more trials were done which debunked the myth.

So what’s the truth? Well, red wine does contain polyphenols, particularly resveratrol that causes dilation of blood vessels, makes the platelets slippery so that you don’t get blockages in the arteries but this has: A) never been proven in humans – could only be a probability: B) Besides, a 5 ounce glass of red wine provides only a minuscule amount, between 0.03 to 1.07 mg, of resveratrol: C) You will have to drink a huge amount of red wine to get the believed benefit: D) The ill-effects of this amount of alcohol will clearly outweigh any benefits that you will get from resveratrol, if any.

Putting it plainly, it’s just another false premise, a misinterpretation of a far fetched hypothesis which tends to mislead us.

Kudos to the cunning wine industry for stretching this canard out so far for so long!

Zareer Patell, black belt, Personal/Fitness Trainer and Fitness Columnist (since 1972).