Many studies have shown that a glass or two of red wine a day is heart-healthy, and much of the benefit has been attributed to the anti-hypertensive effects of antioxidants found in red wine called polyphenols. But a new Dutch study suggests that these polyphenols, at least in isolation, may not lower blood pressure after all. Study author Ilse Botden, a graduate student at University Medical Center in Rotterdam, said the new findings “do not support” a lowering of blood pressure by polyphenols as the source of red wine’s benefits to the cardiovascular system.
