Is one glass of red wine really good for you? Dr Amir reveals truth behind ‘the myth’

It's long been said that drinking one glass of red wine in the evening is good for the health of your heart - but what does Dr Amir Khan have to say about the 'myth'?

There are plenty of myths in the health and wellbeing space, with online trends exaggerating the promises of certain lifestyle changes as fads come and go. Some are more obvious than others, but it turns out we've all fallen for at least one - and Dr Amir Khan has now set the record straight.

In an appearance on Lorraine, Dr Amir revealed, "I want to put a myth to bed really here. Some people still believe this myth that a small amount of red wine is good for your heart. Actually, that was based on flawed research. And those studies in the past didn't account for that."

So why was the research so flawed? Well, while the researchers focused on the fact that the healthiest participants all shared a common love for red wine and drank it regularly, they didn't take into account all of their other similarities - and it was those that actually made them healthier, not their nightly glass of red.

"Red wine drinkers were more likely to be wealthier, more educated, more physically active and eat more vegetables," Dr Amir explains. "And once those things were accounted for in future studies, the risks of drinking even a small amount of red wine outweighed any benefits."

And there are a lot of risks that do come with drinking, the expert says. "The truth about alcohol, Lorraine, is that there is no safe level of alcohol to drink," he said. "Even those 14 unit limits recommended weekly by the NHS are limits - you know, it's a compromise. Ideally, no alcohol is better than some."

Then comes the science-y bit. "When we do drink alcohol, it's turned into something called acetaldehyde by our body, which damages our cells. It also increases our hormones, insulin and estrogen, [and] too many of them can affect cell division and increase the risk of a mutation and cancer.

"Alcohol has been linked to mouth cancer, voice box cancer, throat cancer, esophagus, stomach cancer, liver, bowel and breast cancer."

So avoiding alcohol, or cutting down, is clearly a good thing to do for your health. But it's not just about avoiding illnesses, there are tonnes of other benefits you can see from drinking less too. Positive changes can happen to the body and mind when you stop drinking alcohol even just for a month, like improved sleep patterns and, as you avoid the impact of alcohol on your skin, you'll wake up with a radiant, dewy glow.

Even better, experts say you can see results in less than four weeks if you do stop drinking and there are plenty of tips for drinking less alcohol to help you along the way.

But, as Dr Amir says, "We're not saying, you know, you absolutely must not drink. That is the recommendation but it's about making an informed decision before you pour that glass of wine."