Friday’s Telegraph (December 28^th) reports that Serge Renaud has died aged 84. He was a renowned research scientist who became a hero of the French wine industry when he announced on American television that drinking red wine is good for the heart. Renaud argued that the two or three glasses of red wine most French people consumed every day with their meals was a significant reason for their better health. Challenged to show figures to back up his claims about red wine, in an article in The Lancet in 1992 he drew on epidemiological research and data of his own to claim that 20 to 30 grams of alcohol a day (about two to three standard glasses of wine) could reduce the risk of dying from a heart attack by 40 per cent. Wine protects the heart, he maintained, mainly by acting on platelets in the blood to prevent clotting. The obituary did not say how he died but he managed to live to 84 and obviously worked hard enjoying himself.
So let’s raise a glass of Bordeaux to his memory and his efforts to improve our life styles.
The full obituary can be found on http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9766180/Serge-Renaud.html