Red wine with the noon meal lowers post-meal blood pressure: a randomized trial in centrally obese, hypertensive patients.
OBJECTIVE
Despite being recognized as a cause of hypertension at higher doses, consumption of lesser amounts of alcohol appears to protect against cardiovascular disease and acutely reduces blood pressure. We tested the hypothesis that two glasses of red wine, taken together with the noon meal, would cause postprandial reduction in blood pressure in hypertensive individuals.


METHODS
Thirteen (8 female) middle-aged, centrally obese, hypertensive and otherwise healthy participants received, in an open randomized crossover experiment, red wine (250 ml to approximately 23 g of ethanol) and a placebo equivalent, together with a standardized lunch. Blood pressure was measured with 24-hour ambulatory monitoring.


RESULTS
Wine with the meal produced a mean (SD) reduction of 5.3 (7.66) mmHg in postprandial blood pressure (p = .03), which persisted for most of the remaining daytime interval. The maximal blood pressure reduction was 8.5 (11.84) mmHg, occurring 3 hours after intervention (p = .02). In addition, nocturnal dipping in systolic blood pressure was lessened during the wine intervention period (5.3 [10.19] vs 11.1 [8.08] mmHg; p = .03).


CONCLUSIONS
Ingestion of 250 ml of red wine, together with the noon meal, resulted in reduction of the postprandial blood pressure of centrally obese, hypertensive subjects. The effect lasted throughout most of the remaining daytime interval and appeared to modify the usual blood pressure variation pattern.
Foppa
Murilo
M
Division of Cardiology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. mfoppa@writeme.com
Fuchs
Flávio D
FD
Preissler
Lisângela
L
Andrighetto
André
A
Rosito
Guido A
GA
Duncan
Bruce B
BB
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D019518:Postprandial Period / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014920:Wine