Can Resveratrol Really Prolong Your Active Life?

As we have discussed researchers at Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes on Aging, led by David Sinclair PhD, reported that resveratrol, a red wine molecule, overcame the adverse effects of a high-fat diet in mice, prolonged their life over 30%, and more importantly, maintained quality of life. At one point in the study, equivalent to middle age in humans, 22% of the fat-fed animals had died vs. 0% in the high-fat and resveratrol fed animals.

Some of the press claimed it was the great story of wine defeating gluttony. The London Times said "A drop of wine can prolong an active life." Most newspaper headlines incorrectly said it was wine, not concentrated resveratrol, which produced these health benefits. Ohters said resveratrol was the equalizer of the fountain of youth.

In an article in the Harvard Crimson entitled "It's Wine, Not Cheese, That Leads Media Into This Moustrap," Dr. David Sinclair said he was "disappointed" with the way the findings were portrayed by the news media. "This isn't about red wine at all," he said, stressing that only small amounts resveratrol are in in red wine. He added that a person would have to drink over 100 glasses of red wine per day to take in the same amount of resveratrol as demonstrated in the laboratory mice.

Ever since Dr. Serge Renaud of France announced the French Paradox in 1992, the fact that the French defy the common risk factors for cardiovascular disease by eating a high-calorie and high-fat diet but still exhibit low rates of heart and blood vessel disease, modern medicine has argued over the possibility of prescribing wine for health. Many Doctors have withheld their recommendation of wine because it would give license to those who wish to over-imbibe.

Health benefits are only derived from moderate consumption, 2-3 five-ounce glasses per day and this is true of one beer or a single drink of spirits. Providing more incorrect information were other experts called upon by the news media to comment on the Sinclair/Harvard mouse study. They seemed reluctant to suggest the public look into taking red wine pills (resveratrol supplemnts). Instead, many claimed that resveratrol pills were unproven and may pose unknown long-term health risks and that drinking a glass or two of red wine would be a safer alternative, for now.

Which really appears safer to you? Would it be an alcoholic beverage or a non-alcoholic pill with far-fewer calories as well? The answer is rather evident and resveratrol is a molecular mimic of calorie restriction, turning on the genetic mechanisms that are normally turned on only be a limited calorie diet.

The real story is that with resveratrol supplements, humans can avoid the alcohol and calories. These the drawbacks that have kept doctors from prescribing red wine.