Red Wine Boosts Your Confidence and Relaxes Your Mind, Says New Study

Red wine has come under the spotlight as a lot of recent studies have been done claiming its health benefits thanks to the presence of a type of antioxidant called resveratrol. A new study, published in the journal BMJ Open, suggests that a glass of red wine could be great to unwind and relax your mind after a long day's work. The team of researchers conducted an extensive analysis of how different alcohols can affect your emotions. 

For the study, the team analysed the responses of nearly 30,000 adults aged between the age of 18 and 34. The researchers drew on anonymised responses to the world’s largest online survey of legal and illicit drug and alcohol use among adults – the Global Drug Survey or GDS. The GDS, which is provided in 11 languages, includes specific questions on alcohol consumption and the feelings associated with drinking beer, spirits and red or white wine when at home or when out.

They found that about 59 per cent of them associated spirits such as vodka, gin, whiskey and other hard alcohols with feelings of energy and confidence. Only 20 per cent associated hard spirits with the feeling of being relaxed. On the other hand, red wine was the most likely to elicit this feeling (just under 53 per cent) followed by beer (around 50 per cent). The responses differed by gender and category of alcohol dependency.

The researchers aimed at understanding the different emotions linked with alcohol consumption as they hope to use this data to address alcohol misuse and provide insight into what kind of emotions influence drink choice between different groups in the population. 

Further, the study also showed that men were significantly more likely to associate feelings of aggression with all types of alcohol and heavy drinkers were six times more likely to do so than low risk drinkers. These findings suggest that dependent drinkers may rely on alcohol to generate the positive emotions they associate with drinking, the researchers explained.

According to Co-author Professor Mark Bellis of Public Health Wales’ Director of Policy, Research and International Development, "For centuries, the history of rum, gin, vodka and other spirits has been laced with violence. This global study suggests even today consuming spirits is more likely to result in feelings of aggression than other drinks,”

With Inputs from IANS