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Human Nutrition from the Gastroenterologist’s Perspective pp 183–199Cite as

How the Precious Role of Wine in Mediterranean Diet Is Mediated by the Gastrointestinal Tract

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Abstract

EXPO 2015 gave a chance to increase the popularization of what really the wine represents for human health and to spread worldwide the Italian wine culture. This culture looks to the wine not as a simple nice drink, but as a real food, an essential constituent of the Mediterranean diet, and probably the most important effector of its benefits. The body of evidences about the beneficial effects of wine on our health is substantial and continuously growing. Moderate wine drinking increases longevity, reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and does not appreciably influence the overall risk of cancer. The most compelling evidences regard the protection from cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases, which by the way constitute the leading cause of premature death in the Western world. The prospective studies carried out in general population and reviewed in this chapter demonstrate that wine intake has a beneficial effect on all-cause mortality that is additive to that of alcohol. Wine contains various polyphenolic substances which may be beneficial for health, almost certainly through gut microbiota modulation and in particular flavonols (such as myricetin and quercetin), catechin and epicatechin, proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, various phenolic acids, and the stilbene resveratrol. Further studies are needed to determine the role of wine in protecting the metabolic diseases, but there are indications that even there the effects may be important.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scientific Department, Italian Pavillon Expo 2015, Milan, Italy

    Enzo Grossi

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  1. Enzo Grossi
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Correspondence to Enzo Grossi .

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  1. Villa Santa Maria, Research & Development, Milan, Italy

    Enzo Grossi

  2. ASST Bergamo Est, Gastroenterology, Seriate (BG), Italy

    Fabio Pace

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Grossi, E. (2016). How the Precious Role of Wine in Mediterranean Diet Is Mediated by the Gastrointestinal Tract. In: Grossi, E., Pace, F. (eds) Human Nutrition from the Gastroenterologist’s Perspective. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30361-1_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30361-1_12

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