Resveratrol Is In And Red Wine Is Out As A Cancer Fighter!

French cuisine is world famous for its rich sauces, gourmet cheeses, and fine wines. However, the French enjoy a relatively low incidence of coronary heart disease. This apparent anomaly has led scientists to wonder what dietary or lifestyle factors might account for the so-called “French paradox.” Studies indicate that resveratrol, a component of red wine, may help protect the French from the adverse health effects of their traditionally rich diet, while also protecting the liver against the toxic effects of alcohol.
While resveratrol’s impact on cardiovascular disease has undergone the most scrutiny to date, researchers are also exploring its effects on a broad array of diseases, including cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s and other debilitating diseases associated with aging. One of resveratrol’s most studied applications involves the prevention of cardiovascular disease. It seems the cardiovascular protective effects of resveratrol have been studied for years, based largely on the association of wine consumption with reduced risk of coronary heart disease.

This plant derived compound appears to act through several mechanisms to protect the cardiovascular system. Resveratrol may inhibit platelets from clumping together, thus reducing the risk of deadly blood clots that can lead to heart attack and stroke. Furthermore, resveratrol helps improve blood flow by exerting beneficial effects on the linings of small blood vessels, known as the endothelium. This is a critical finding, since endothelial dysfunction is believed to underlie the progression of atherosclerosis and other heart ailments. In addition to its cardiovascular protective effects, resveratrol exhibits a range of anti-cancer properties. In laboratory cell studies, resveratrol has been found to inhibit the growth of numerous types of cancer, including leukemia, melanoma, and cancers of the breast, ovaries, prostate, stomach, colon, liver, pancreas, thyroid, uterine cervix, and head and neck.

Resveratrol suppresses tumor growth by increasing or decreasing the production of various enzymes and molecules that regulate cellular reproduction and blood supply to the tumor. Through these mechanisms, resveratrol may enhance the anti-cancer effects of chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation. With its potent antioxidant capabilities, resveratrol may even protect healthy tissues from damage induced by chemotherapy. Since chemotherapy harms both healthy and cancerous tissues, this finding may have important applications in helping cancer patients tolerate its effects. Clinical trials in humans have shown that resveratrol has an excellent safety profile, and structural modifications of resveratrol with improved bio availability are being studied as potential anti-cancer treatments.
[tags]resveratrol, reverse-aging[/tags]