Wine may help prevent kidney disease, study finds

DETROIT – A glass of wine a day could help prevent kidney disease, a new study concludes. For those who already have kidney disease, wine might protect their hearts.

According to a University of Colorado-Denver researcher, people who drank up to one glass of wine a day had a 37 percent lower prevalence of chronic kidney disease than those who drank no wine at all. And those who already had chronic kidney disease were 29 percent less likely than teetotalers to have cardiovascular disease if they drank less than a glass a day.

The researcher, Dr. Tapan Mehta, used 2003-06 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on 5,852 individuals, 1,031 of whom had chronic kidney disease. He presented preliminary findings this week at a National Kidney Foundation meeting.

The findings back up studies that also suggest a single glass of red wine a day for women – or two for men – help protect your heart, said foundation spokesman Dr. Leslie Spry.

It may be that the alcohol and antioxidants in red wine boost levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol) and protect against artery damage, according to the Mayo Clinic. Mehta’s study didn’t differentiate between red and white wine.

“It doesn’t surprise me that, as we learn that wine is protective to the heart, we’re seeing the same effect on the kidneys,” said Dr. Joel Topf, a Detroit-area nephrologist and president of the scientific advisory board of the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan.