The French Paradox and Resveratrol

The concept of the French paradox raises questions about the health benefits attributed to red wine, specifically the compound resveratrol. The paradox emerged from observations that France, with high saturated fat intake, had lower heart attack rates compared to Finland, leading to speculation that red wine consumption might be protective. However, investigations revealed that the perceived lower heart disease rates in France were due to underreporting of heart disease deaths. As a result, when properly accounted for, French heart attack rates align with their fat consumption, suggesting the search for a miraculous compound in red wine may have been misguided.