A natural substance found in red wine can extend life and counter the
negative effects of an unhealthy high-fat diet, researchers at the Harvard
Medical School and the US National Institute of Aging said.
Researchers have discovered that a compound in red wine called
resveratrol caused lab mice to live longer. Not only that, the mice also
experienced a reversal in genes associated with heart disease, diabetes
and other weight-related maladies.
They carried the study out on mice fed on a diet so high in saturated
fats that it was equivalent to eating a cream cake with every meal. Mice
on the fatty diet became obese, suffered health disorders such as liver
and heart disease and died significantly earlier than mice on normal
diets.
But when a second group of mice on the high-fat diet were given
resveratrol, a plant extract found in grapes, their health and longevity
were almost indistinguishable
from normal mice, although they still became obese.
Resveratrol has already been identified as the chemical behind the
so-called French Paradox, the phenomenon in which French people have low
rates of heart disease even though their diet is traditionally high in
meat, cheese and bread.
The resveratrol, had already shown the same benefits on worms, fruit
flies and yeast.
"What we really would like to be the final answer, and can't quite say
yet, is that resveratrol will mimic the effects of calorie restriction,"
said Joseph Baur of the team of Harvard.
