The health benefits of red wine have been widely recognized. Researchers said that red wine consumption may be responsible for the notably low occurrence of cardiovascular diseases among the French, who eat a relatively high fat diet.

In May 1995, the British Medical Journal published a study in which over 13,000 men and women aged 30 to 70 were followed up for12 year. This study indicated that those who drank hard liquor had a 34% increase in mortality while those who drank 3 - 5 glasses of wine had a 49% reduction in mortality compared to those who never drank wine.

Scientists believe that the resveratrol in red wine is responsible for its protective effects on human health. Resveratrol, works as an antioxidant polyphenols, counter oxidative damage to human cells and tissues caused by free radicals.

Unstable molecules called free radicals are generated by normal body functions (e.g. breathing, digestion). Free radicals also formed as a result of exposure to pollution, toxins and UV radiation. Free radicals attack healthy cells, create damages to proteins, membranes and DNA. Free radical damage to cells and tissues are associated with cardiovascular and immunological complications. It also plays a major role in the aging process.

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring compound produced by plants in response to fungal infections, injury and UV radiation. It is a part of their natural defense, protecting their delicate tissues from disease. Resveratrol can be found in grapevines- roots, seeds and stalks, with its highest concentration in the grape skin. Resveratrol is also found in raspberries, mulberries and peanuts. Red wine, made from grapes, contains high levels of resveratrol.

Nov 2006, a landmark study published in the medical journal "Nature" found that high doses of resveratrol allowed obese mice to eat a high fat diet and still live a long and healthy life. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging gave resveratrol to mice to see how it would affect those fed a high-fat diet compared to mice who got the high-fat diet but no resveratrol and mice fed a healthy mouse diet. In addition to living longer and avoiding the perils of a high- fat diet, the mice who received resveratrol also performed better on tests of balance and coordination as they got older than did the other high-fat diet mice in the study.

Researchers found that resveratrol prevented the negative health effects of weight gain in mice, that is enlarged livers, high insulin levels and diabetes - and reduced the risk of death by 31 percent. In this study, resveratrol was given to mice in a very large dosage which is equivalent to several hundred glasses of red wine per day. This produced a significant extension of life span of the mice along with protecting the cells and organs from the damaging high blood sugar. Further, the mice who received resveratrol showed significant improvement in endurance and physical performance. Researchers also suggested that resveratrol can mimic the effects of caloric restriction in extending longevity. We've long known that mice fed a nutritious diet that contains 40 percent fewer calories than a standard mouse diet will live up to 50 percent longer. The exact mechanism of resveratrol is not yet known, but the researchers believe resveratrol may be activating a longevity gene called SIRT1 (Sirtuin).

Chinese studies in rats from 2002 to 2003 showed that resveratrol, when injected immediately after spinal cord injury, reversed the signs of inflammatory response to the injury on a level comparable to prednisone (a steroid used to reduce inflammation), but with better energy compensation and protection against free radicals. Besides helping to ameliorate this type of injury through free radical blockade, resveratrol actually inhibits specific enzymes that change the way individual cells respond to the injury. It's possible that if a person regularly takes supplemental resveratrol, they will be more likely to withstand a stroke or other injury to the brain. This has been demonstrated in rats pretreated 21 days with resveratrol - less motor damage and less brain damage occurred post-stroke.

In a study published in the Journal "Free Radical. Biol. Med" 2003. It has proved that resveratrol can protect the brain against oxidative stress, and keep brain cells alive. Research shows that adding vitamins C and E to resveratrol provides a greater degree of brain protection than any of the antioxidants alone. Alzheimer's patients produce an abnormal protein known as "beta-amyloid" in their brains. Beta-amyloid provokes oxidative stress, and eventually cells are killed because of the abnormally high levels of free radicals. The killing of brain cells causes the gradual decline in Alzheimer's patients.

In a study published in the journal "Life Science", a group of rats were treated with a chemical to induce elevated blood sugar along with damage to the nerve endings. Six weeks after this damage was induced, these mice were supplemented with two weeks of resveratrol. It was demonstrated that the resveratrol produced a marked increase in catalase (a powerful antioxidant enzyme and improvement in nerve function. This was actually demonstrated on pathologic review of the nerves performed after supplementation with resveratrol. This study suggested the potential of resveratrol for the benefit of impaired nerve function produced by elevated blood sugar. The mechanism is possibly through a reduction in oxidative stress and DNA fragmentation (damage).

Resveratrol is the first natural medicinal to have solid evidence behind it showing that it blocks or stops many stages of cancer. Resveratrol not only prevents cancer, it's being proposed as an additional treatment. Resveratrol is a broad-spectrum agent that stops cancer in many diverse ways, from blocking estrogen and androgens to modulating genes. Some of the latest information about it shows that resveratrol causes a unique type of cell death, kills cancer cells whether they do or do not have the tumor suppressor gene, p53. It also works whether cancer cells are estrogen receptor-positive or negative

Researchers in Austria have done elaborate studies showing that resveratrol blocks the ability of cancer cells to metastasize to bone by 30-71%. The highest results were for pancreas, breast, and renal cancer. Prostate and colon cancers were also inhibited, but not as much.

In a study from Japan, resveratrol in an amount easily obtained by supplementation, inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells,

In a study out of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Institute published in the March 2007 journal "Blood", It was found that resveratrol seemed to inhibit the proliferation of abnormal cellular growth within the bone marrow.

Resveratrol has been tested for its ability to stop pain, stop the growth of the bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, that causes stomach ulcers that can lead to cancer.

There is no clinical studies on human, the optimal therapeutic dosage of resveratrol has not been established.

Based on animal studies, a reasonable therapeutic dosage of resveratrol might be 5 mg per kilogram up to 500 mg of resveratrol daily. Dr. David Sinclair, The lead author of the Harvard Medical School study, told the New York Times that he has been taking resveratrol at a daily dose of five mg per kilogram.

To get the resveratrol dose given to the mice in this study (24 mg of resveratrol per kilogram of body weight), you would have to drink far more red wine than is sensible, or even possible for a human being. If you don't drink, resveratrol is not a reason to start.

The data on resveratrol is compelling.

The fountain of youth could well be a fountain of resveratrol.

Reference

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