Ever since wine production began 8,000 years ago, people have suggested it can do remarkable things.

Whether it increases courage, passion, happiness, is good for your heart, bad for your heart, good for your mental health, bad for your mental health, claims and counter claims are still made to this day.

But in this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, we are looking at the evidence, not the stories. 

Red wine is particularly intriguing for health researchers because there are so many claims about it reducing cholesterol, improving heart health, being beneficial for our bones, and so on.

But, we know that drinking too much alcohol is bad for us.

So, do the health claims stack up? Are some wines healthier than others? And how much is too much?

Alex Glover, Senior Nutritionist, Holland & Barrett

Alex is senior nutritionist within the global R&D team at Holland & Barrett and graduated with an MSc in Clinical Nutrition from the University of Aberdeen. 

He has published research in the field of public health nutrition specifically looking at the effects of plant-based alternative products and cardiovascular health. 

Alex is currently looking to publish further research in the field of Sarcopenia.

Jo Travers, AKA The London Nutritionist, Registered Dietitian

Jo Travers, The London Nutritionist and author of The Low-Fad Diet, is a state Registered Dietitian with a First Class BSc (Hons) in Human Nutrition & Dietetics. 

She has been in private practice for five years, and in her media role has consulted on and off-screen for the BBC; Channel 4; and comments regularly in print and on radio (more often than not as the voice of reason when the latest outlandish food story hits the news).

She is also a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association.