Red wine may lower lung cancer risk, but smoking is still not allowed

A study suggests that red wine may protect against lung cancer: men who drank moderate amounts of red wine had a lower risk of lung cancer, the authors say, even if they smoked.

Red wine contains an antioxidant that may help protect against lung cancer, says Dr Chun Chao, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California's Department of Research and Evaluation. But she stresses that this doesn't mean smoking is allowed.

The study included 84,170 men, of whom 210 developed lung cancer. Each glass of red wine a month was linked with a 2% lower risk of lung cancer. The drop was greatest in smokers who drank one to two glasses a day; it wasn't seen in non-smokers, or with white wine, beer or spirits.

Despite these results, the researchers stressed that men can't drink wine and smoke to prevent lung cancer: smokers who drink red wine always have a much higher risk of lung cancer than non-smokers. The answer for smokers is to stop smoking.