A moderate daily intake of wine can have several proven health benefits, a list which now includes a lower risk of developing depression.

According to an article recently published in the BMC Medicine journal, a glass or two a day can have similar protective effects on depression to those that have been observed for coronary heart disease.

An extremely thorough investigation was carried out by researchers from the PREDIMED research Network, following 5,500 light-to-moderate drinkers for up to seven years. In their conclusions the team said they found an inverse relationship between alcohol intake and incidence of depression.

The lowest rates of depression were seen in the study group of individuals (aged 55 to 80) who drank two to seven glasses of wine per week. These results remained significant even when the group adjusted them for lifestyle and social factors, such as smoking, diet and marital status.

Senior author of the paper, Professor Miguel A. Martínez-González from the Spanish University of Navarra said: “lower amounts of alcohol intake might exert protection in a similar way to what has been observed for coronary heart disease. In fact, it is believed that depression and coronary heart disease share some common disease mechanisms.”

A full copy of the report is available from the publisher.