For years, researchers have told us that moderate drinking of red wine, and an anti-inflammatory substance in it called resveratrol, combat aging and are good for heart health. But then a University of Connecticut red wine researcher was accused of fabricating his data. Should we still raise a glass of red wine to our health despite questions about his work?

Dr. Erika Schwartz, a top national expert in wellness and the author of four best-selling books, thinks so.

“Do I believe that resveratrol is an important substance and it has enough data behind it to make me recommend it to my patients as an antioxidant to take on a regular basis? Yes, I believe resveratrol is a great supplement,” she tells Newsmax Health.

Like Dr. Schwartz, other medical experts have not ruled out the benefits of resveratrol based on the charges against Dr. Dipak K. Das, who was not considered a major researcher in the science on the substance.

It’s important to put what’s happened in perspective, she says of the suspect research. People have been drinking red wine for ages, and it is part of the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, which people have benefited from for a long time — before science and the scientific method, she notes. People who eat a Mediterranean diet, which is low in animal fat, and high in nuts, olive oil, whole grains, fish, and fruits and vegetables, have a lower incidence of heart disease, strokes, and cancer.

While drinking red wine is considered beneficial to health, it must be done in moderation, she says. Taking resveratrol supplements is especially important because “significant, scientific data” shows the substance works to combat aging and serves as a mental stimulant, she says.

But resveratrol is only part of the anti-aging picture, she says. Eating a mostly vegetarian diet, exercising six days week including cardiovascular and strength-training work, staying well hydrated, taking bioidentical hormones to replace those being lost, and getting eight hours of sleep a night are practices so critical to staying youthful and healthy, Dr. Schwartz says.

For more from Dr. Schwartz, visit her blog.

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