Can Drinking 3 Glasses of Champagne a Week Really Prevent Alzheimer's?

Everyone wants to believe that a good buzz is good for the body — it's why scientists are constantly looking into benefits of alcohol, why new proof always makes headlines, and why you always *click* *like* *share*.

Not to kill the buzz, but a study on the benefits of champagne that's currently making its rounds on the Internet isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be. The actual study, which was conducted at England's University of Reading in May 2013, is nothing new. Two years ago, researchers discovered that phenolic compounds found in two kinds of grapes used to make champagne — pinot noir and pinot meunier​ — can affect brain functioning in a way that promotes learning and memory. The researchers connected the dots, hypothesizing that a few glasses of bubbly a week could possibly help protect people Alzheimer's and dementia. 

While it's true that champagne contains high levels of phenolic compounds, and the results of this oldish-but-sound research are promising, the kicker is that testing was conducted on rats, not people. 

The researchers have yet to conduct large-scale experiments on humans who are prone to those diseases, or assess champagne consumption and brain power in humans over time. In other words, there's still no saying why last year's New Year's buzz left your memory a little fuzzy in the short term, and there's no solid proof that popping bottles more often will save you from losing your marbles down the road. 

That said, champagne will give you a relatively guiltless buzz — the stuff has fewer calories per glass than most wines and boozy cocktails. And it will always be festive AF.

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