For years, red wine has been linked to numerous health benefits. But the new study, published online in the journal Nature on Thursday, shows that mammals given ultrahigh doses of the red wine extract resveratrol can get the good effects of cutting calories without having the pain of actually doing it.
?If we?re right about this, it would mean you could have the benefit of restricting calories without having to feel hungry,? Sinclair said. ?It?s the Holy Grail of aging research.?
How resveratrol works
Resveratrol, produced when plants are under stress, are found in the skin of grapes and in other plants, including peanuts and some berries.
The resveratrol-treated 55 obese mice on a high-calorie diet (one scientist called it a ?McDonald?s diet?) are not only about as healthy as normal mice, they are as agile and active on exercise equipment as their lean cousins, showing what can be considered a normal quality of life, higher than usual for obese mice, said study co-author Rafael de Cabo of the National Institute on Aging.
?These fat old mice can perform as well on this skill test as young lean mice,? Sinclair said.
The only major body measurement that didn?t improve ? aside from weight ? was cholesterol and that didn?t seem to matter in the overall health of the mice, Sinclair said.
?It will be of great interest to see what further studies reveal about the positives of wine consumption, including the pleasure of savoring great wine with food,? said Sims.
The study is so promising that the aging institute is strongly considering a repeat of the same experiment with rhesus monkeys, coming the closest to humans, after succeeding in using resveratrol on yeast, worms, fruit flies and now mice, said institute director Dr. Richard Hodes.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661108065
?If we?re right about this, it would mean you could have the benefit of restricting calories without having to feel hungry,? Sinclair said. ?It?s the Holy Grail of aging research.?
How resveratrol works
Resveratrol, produced when plants are under stress, are found in the skin of grapes and in other plants, including peanuts and some berries.
The resveratrol-treated 55 obese mice on a high-calorie diet (one scientist called it a ?McDonald?s diet?) are not only about as healthy as normal mice, they are as agile and active on exercise equipment as their lean cousins, showing what can be considered a normal quality of life, higher than usual for obese mice, said study co-author Rafael de Cabo of the National Institute on Aging.
?These fat old mice can perform as well on this skill test as young lean mice,? Sinclair said.
The only major body measurement that didn?t improve ? aside from weight ? was cholesterol and that didn?t seem to matter in the overall health of the mice, Sinclair said.
?It will be of great interest to see what further studies reveal about the positives of wine consumption, including the pleasure of savoring great wine with food,? said Sims.
The study is so promising that the aging institute is strongly considering a repeat of the same experiment with rhesus monkeys, coming the closest to humans, after succeeding in using resveratrol on yeast, worms, fruit flies and now mice, said institute director Dr. Richard Hodes.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200661108065
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