Resveratrol and Red Wine: Longevity in a Glass?

The compound that gives red wine its color may help your heart... maybe

RobinMillerMD

Posted: Dec 13, 06 3:13pm

Why is resveratrol the new rage?

The news has recently been touting exciting research regarding mice and resveratrol (the compound that gives red wine it's color). Obese mice treated with resveratrol were spared the negative effects of a high calorie diet and lived longer. Is this the new fountain of youth? Can we eat all we want and have a healthy heart too? Don't get too excited just yet.

What is resveratrol?

It's a compound found mostly in the skin of red grapes, and develops the longer the skins are fermented, which is why red wine has greater concentrations of resveratrol than white wine. Resveratrol can also be found in lesser amounts in grape juice, red grapes, blueberries, bilberries, cranberries, peanuts, and peanut butter. Many would like to attribute the "French Paradox" to resveratrol.

You might have heard about the "French Paradox" in the news over the years. Researchers think red wine may help explain why the French have a lower incidence of heart disease despite the fact that the typical French diet is rich in fats. Many studies have proven that moderate amounts of red wine may be protective against heart disease, however red wine is rich in many anti-oxidants, only one of which is resveratrol.

So although resveratrol may protect mice against heart disease, it's still too soon to extrapolate those effect to humans.

What we DO know about resveratrol's effect on humans:

• Although resveratrol is well absorbed when taken orally, our bodies tend to burn the compound too quickly for our cells to use.
• Resveratrol chemically looks a lot like diethylstilbestrol, which is a synthetic estrogen. That means researchers worry it may actually increase a woman's risk of estrogen-related cancers like breast cancer. (And we do know that women who are heavy-drinkers are already at higher risk for breast cancer.)
• To get the protective effects of resveratrol, we may need to get more than what's available in a few glasses of wine.

What about supplements?

Resveratrol supplements are available in doses from 10 to 50 mgs. (A 5-oz. glass of wine contains 1.89 mgs at the most.) But researchers still don't know how much you need for disease prevention, or whether our cells can use resveratrol when taken orally (even in large amounts). We do know, however, that taking resveratrol supplements is probably safe.

Women with estrogen-sensitive cancers (such as breast cancer) should avoid resveratrol until more is known. The compound also has the potential to thin the blood, so people on coumadin, aspirin, or Plavix should beware and talk to their doctor before trying resveratrol.

Will researchers prove resveratrol to be the magic bullet and the secret of eternal health? Maybe. In the meantime, protect your heart by eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly! (And remember, even though the mice were healthy, they were still obese!)