Resveratrol News and Studies

Since virtually the beginning of time people quickly became interested in looking good. From perfumes to primitive make-up our forefathers and ancestors paid attention to their looks, took the time to improve them, and experimented with new ways to look beautiful.

A brief look at the media today reveals a growing obsession with this. Not only do we want to look good today, we want to stay young, or at the very least looking young. Gone are the days of growing old gracefully. Most people fight growing old; body, mind, and soul.

Women spend millions of dollars annually on products that promise to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and even more every year opt for dangerous and costly plastic surgery to erase the natural progression of aging on their faces and bodies.

Seduced by pictures in magazines of airbrushed models that appear youthful and flawless youth in our society are likewise becoming obsessed with looks. Is this healthy? Everyone will have their own opinion on that; the facts indicate that more and more people every year are searching for that ‘fountain of youth.’

A quick search on Google for ‘how to look young’ comes back with 13,800,000 results! That’s a lot of information about how to turn back the clock on your looks.

From creams and makeup tricks to surgery and face yoga everyone has a tip to make you look younger.

Resveratrol and Anti-aging: Youth in a Pill?

In a 60 Minutes episode back in January 2009, Morley Safer did a report entitled “Fountain of Youth in a Wine Rx?” that reviewed the impact of resveratrol on anti-aging. And while the jury remains out on whether this powerful chemical compound found in the skin of red grapes is really a fountain of youth more and more people are using it for just this.

Resveratrol is loaded with antioxidants, some that research on animals shows to be particularly helpful in fighting aging. But it’s not just about looks when it comes to resveratrol to fight aging.

Studies on animals showed that their lifespan was increased as well as their quality of life when regularly given resveratrol as compared to their counterparts not given resveratrol.

When these animals (mostly rats and mice) did die, the examination of internal organs revealed even more. The mice who took resveratrol not only lived longer but upon autopsy had healthier, more youthful organs than those mice who didn’t take the resveratrol.

Studies on resveratrol as an anti-aging compound are in their infancy. However, these studies indicate that this could be a powerful player in the fight against aging. For now it’s not recommended to overindulge but continue to enjoy your glass of red wine, one of the richest sources of resveratrol.

You may have heard recently in the news media about a new chemical compound found in plants good for your heart, excellent to fight aging, and even can help your body fight cancer. If you don’t know by now this powerful plant compound is called resveratrol. It’s found in certain plants but not all.

More specifically this chemical compound is a phytoalexin that acts as a natural antibiotic for plants. When the plant is attacked by fungi or other invasive disease, resveratrol arrives in high concentrations fighting off the unwanted invader. Since the discovery of resveratrol scientists and researchers want to learn what else this potent compound can do. The question was posed: will resveratrol fight cancer?

With mounds of research piling up about the amazing health benefits of resveratrol for heart health, weight loss, and anti-aging it inevitably turned to one of our world’s biggest battles; the fight against cancer. Doctors, researchers, and scientists began to wonder if this discovery could indeed help the body to naturally fight off cancer.

What the Research Reveals

As you can imagine the research into resveratrol and cancer is complicated and sometimes confusing. However despite some conflicts within the research it seems to be emerging that there is hope that resveratrol can help the body fight cancer – at least some forms of cancer.

2 Ways Resveratrol May Fight Cancer

1. Acting as a free radical fighter
2. Fighting tumor growth

As a free radical fighter and antioxidant resveratrol has been shown to fight cancer in certain clinical studies. In one study on pancreatic cancer led by Dr. Paul Okunieff the chief of Radiation Oncology at James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center use of resveratrol was proven to be very effective.

In his groundbreaking study Okunieff reported that resveratrol traveled directly to the deadly cancer cells’ core, mitochondria, and crippled and destroyed it.

Attacking the mitochondria in any cancer treatment program is a vital goal as the mitochondria actually has its own DNA that can provide a constant supply of energy to the cancer cells. When you destroy the mitochondria you destroy the energy supply, in theory, the cancer is destroyed too.  This is a huge step in the right direction to beat the disease.

Resveratrol Found Effective in Fighting Certain Cancers

In another study reviewing the impact of resveratrol on cancer in numerous studies, researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute found that resveratrol could help the body in many ways. They found resveratrol particularly helpful in fighting certain types of cancers like breast, prostate, stomach, colon, pancreatic, and thyroid. 

To date most of the studies on resveratrol and the fight against cancer have focused on animals, not humans. There are currently studies under way to test the impact of resveratrol on humans. For now, doctors recommend using caution when opting for resveratrol supplements.

Although there have been no serious side effects found, the research into resveratrol is in its infancy.

The tried and true news show on CBS television 60 Minutes ran a feature in January 2009 entitled, “Fountain of Youth in a Wine Rx?” This piece focused on the amazing health benefits of drinking red wine.

This wasn’t the first time that 60 Minutes had visited the benefits of red wine. Eighteen years earlier the program had investigated what is referred to as The French Paradox.

The French Paradox is what is referred to as the fact that the French as a culture eat high fat foods, drink red wine frequently, and as compared to Americans have a low rate of heart disease (as well as obesity.) At that time researchers theorized that it must be something in the red wine that caused or rather prevented this.

Fast forward eighteen years. With it’s latest investigation into red wine with “Fountain of Youth in a Wine Rx?” once again 60 Minutes set out to discover if what they thought almost two decades prior could after all be attributed to resveratrol in red wines.

“Fountain of Youth in a Wine Rx?” Discovering Resveratrol

What was revealed in the show to Morley Safer by researchers was that resveratrol indeed was believed to be linked to the low rates of heart disease and other lifestyle diseases in the French  -and in fact anyone with a regular, yet not excessive, wine consumption.

In fact, the report stated that resveratrol in very high concentrations may indeed be able to extend the life span by fighting off a variety of age related conditions.

One of the primary participants in the show with Safer was Dr. Christopher Westphal. He was in hopes of pioneering a pill with high concentrations of resveratrol that could stall many of the diseases many of us inevitably seem to encounter at the ages of 50, 60, and 70.

When Westphal met Harvard biochemist David Sinclair he found that Sinclair had been able to extend life in yeast. Westphal explained that although this was still amazing, yeast was one thing, humans were yet another.

The pair soon formed Sitris, a Cambridge Massachusetts research company focusing on creating a drug with resveratrol to activate in humans what Sinclair activated in yeast – a prolonged life span.

And finally what they so desired came to be; a pill that mimics what resveratrol from wine and certain foods do. The pill contains close to the amount of resveratrol found in 1,000 bottles of red wine.

Westphal and Sinclair continued to pioneer a resveratrol drug that can take years off the life. Their company, Sirtris was purchased by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline for almost three quarters of a billion dollars.

The French way of life seems so good. Full of rich, delicious foods, and some of the best wines the world has to offer it’s easy to be envious of their evenings spent enjoying great food, lively conversations, and of course amazing red wines. And they all look beautiful too. This is the French Paradox.

If you’ve ever been to France you realize quickly that the natives of this beautiful country spend a lot of time doing many of the things that make our lives abundant. They eat unbelievably delicious, high calories foods; spend hours and hours with family and friends chatting while they indulge in the best wines with their rich foods – and don’t seem to gain a pound.

After a few days in France you begin to realize there just aren’t many fat or obese people there. Then you wonder why? It seems they’re breaking all the rules for losing weight yet they remain slim, happy, and healthy.

A closer look at the culture also reveals their hearts are healthy too. Much healthier than Americans who also consume high calorie diets. So what’s going on here? And more importantly how can we get in on it?

The Answers in the Glass (of Red Wine that is)

It’s recently coming into light that the reason why the French don’t gain as much weight from eating fatty foods is the wine they consume with their meals.

Red wine contains a chemical compound called resveratrol that has been recently considered to fight weight gain. In fact, animal studies are showing just that.

In recent studies it was shown that when mice ate a high calorie meal with resveratrol the fat cells didn’t grow like they did in the mice who ate the same high fat meal minus the resveratrol.

Resveratrol supplements are popping up all over the place and claim to help people lose weight. Try them if you want or simply consider eating foods that are high in resveratrol like red wines.

The French simply live life as they have for thousands of years. They eat what they want, exercise not at the gym but by walking to local markets to buy fresh foods, and drink red wine (not take supplements for their nutrients as many Americans do.) They enjoy their meals, eat smaller portions, and don’t rush through life. It may be worthwhile to follow their lead with food, wine, and health.

With much lower obesity rates as well as heart disease rates, they are certainly on to something most Westerners are missing.

Red wine has long been savored as a source of nourishment, relaxation, and socialization for millions. Dating back to 6000BC to a region called Georgia, red wine was first fermented for drinking pleasures. In fact, the Egyptians were well known for their wine consumption (and enjoyment) and left detailed inscriptions on tombs explaining the processes they used.

There’s no denying that drinking red wine is an experience that tantalizes just about all of the senses. From the aroma to the taste, red wine invites the drinker to indulge in relaxation and pleasure. But it’s not just about the senses. Red wine has recently gained attention as a potent source of important nutrients for the body.

Red Wine for Health

Recently red wine has gained widespread attention for its vital health benefits. Most of these benefits have to do with the chemical compound, resveratrol, found abundantly in red wine.

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring phytoalexin found in red wine, the skin of grapes used to make wine as well as certain berries and peanuts.

However, many proponents of red wine as a source of resveratrol claim that the way wine is consumed is particularly helpful in the absorption of resveratrol.

Resveratrol is best absorbed through the mouth and the traditional savoring and swirling of red wine prior to swallowing is when the body has the opportunity to do the best absorption.

Although research on the health benefits of red wine is in its infancy, there do seem to be some common findings in regards to red wine, resveratrol, and health benefits.

4 Ways Red Wine Boosts Health

1. Heart Health
2. Anti-aging
3. Weight loss
4. Fights free radical damage

Red wine, or more accurately the resveratrol in red wine, helps the heart in a few ways. Studies have been showing that it can lower bad cholesterol (LDL) while increasing good cholesterol (HDL) in the body.

Additionally, resveratrol is shown to fight inflammation in the body. Chronic inflammation in the body can contribute to heart disease and many other lifestyle diseases.

Red wine also is rich in antioxidants, specifically polyphenols, which have been found to be helpful in keeping the lining of the heart and blood vessels healthy.  

These antioxidants are also the components in red wine that help to fight aging and also free radical damage.

Red Wine for Weight Loss?

Recently many studies have focused on red wine, resveratrol and weight loss. In studies on animals, it has been shown that resveratrol combats the growth of fat cells. This is now being applied to weight loss in humans.

Some people swear by resveratrol to help them eat a calorie high diet and not gain weight. However, researchers warn that it’s too early and there’s not enough research on this relation between weight loss and resveratrol.

For now it’s a good idea to eat a variety of fruits and veggies that offer an abundance of different nutrients to the body. If you do drink, consider red wine for a potent source of resveratrol. If you don’t try peanuts, or berries for the same.