International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Women's health research has revealed chemicals found in the skins and seeds of red grapes, which go into the wine made out of the fruit, can help cut breast cancer risk.

Scientists at Los Angeles non-profit hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the US asked 36 women to drink either Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay daily for a month.

The type of wine they were given was randomised and the women were then told to switch the drink they were consuming for the other option.

It was discovered that, in pre-menstrual women, consuming an eight-ounce glass of red a day slightly increases testosterone levels while lowering oestrogen - a hormone known to encourage cancer growth - while white wine was not effective.

Assistant director of the Women's Heart Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and co-author of the study Dr Chrisandra Shufelt commented: "If you were to have a glass of wine with dinner, you may want to consider a glass of red ... switching may shift your risk."

Cancer killed 7.6 million people worldwide in 2008, with tumours of the breast responsible for 460,000 of these deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Posted by Alexandra George