It was only a matter of time, wasn't it? There was the Sonoma Diet, the Mediterrean Diet and the book French Women Don't Get Fat, all touting the benefits of red wine in a balanced diet. Even the South Beach Diet allows you to drink red wine after the first two weeks have passed. But now there is an official "Red Wine Diet." The book is written by and based on researched conducted by scientist Roger Corder. Apparently the compounds called procyanidins are the key ingredient in red wine and help ward off illness. In 1996 Corder had written an article on this topic for Nature magazine, and the book is the result.

In that article and his new book, he dismisses earlier studies that suggested a different polyphenol, resveratrol, is responsible for the so-called French Paradox, by which the French can consume large amounts of fat and wine yet have lower rates of heart disease and live longer than Americans.

Corder insists there is so little resveratrol in wine that you would have to drink hundreds of liters per day to get any benefit, while a nice half-bottle (375 milliliters) a day gives you all the procyanidins you need for the same effect. That's about three glasses, though two will do the trick for women.

I have actually heard this about resveratrol, but some people might find it surprising. According to the book, a balanced diet that should include "a mix of foods for their carbohydrate, fat (and) protein content.'' Red wine and other foods like dark chocolate, apples, and berries all fit into this moderate diet. As a wine lover, I'm eager to read this book. You don't need to convince me that wine is good for your health, but I'm interested in the science behind it.

"The Red Wine Diet'' is published by Avery (326 pages, $15.95). Corder is a cardiovascular expert and professor of therapeutics at London's William Harvey Research Institute.