Becker’s Healthcare Podcast Exploring the Science of Wine and Health with Dr. Laura Catena
Mar 12, 2026
Dr. Laura Catena, emergency physician and fourth-generation vintner, mixes medicine and winemaking. She talks about decades of research on moderate drinking and heart health. She outlines a major randomized trial in Spain testing wine within a Mediterranean diet. She also discusses cancer risk trade-offs and how clinicians should handle nuanced lifestyle conversations.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Physician Vintner Career Path
- Laura Catena trained at Harvard and Stanford and practiced emergency medicine while helping run her family winery for nearly 27 years.
- She felt called to support her father's wine revolution in Argentina and now speaks to clarify the science on moderate drinking.
Moderate Drinking Shows Mixed Health Signals
- Longstanding observational data links moderate drinking to lower mortality and cardiovascular events but also shows small increased cancer risks like breast cancer.
- Mendelian randomization studies complicate interpretation by showing nonlinear relationships and mixed signals for cardiovascular benefit at moderate levels.
Avoid Recommending Alcohol Initiation
- Do not advise patients to start drinking for health because guidelines warn against recommending alcohol initiation due to addiction risk.
- Counsel patients that moderate drinking may fit cultural or social lifestyles but emphasize cancer risks and the danger of escalation.