Anti-Cancer Resveratrol – What Studies Have Revealed

Many scientists in the United States have discovered and isolated a compound that has been proven to be the secret behind red wine’s health benefits and to be the answer to the French Paradox. To make this compound even more impressive, it is also believed to function as an anti cancer agent – reaching deep into the core energy source of these malignant cells and destroys it. The discovery of this compound has important implications – it increases the effectiveness of current therapies for diseases like atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders while forming a basis for cancer treatment.

What is this compound?

It’s no other than a protein called resveratrol. Anti-cancer resveratrol fights cancer by starving these mutated and malignant cells through suppressing the action of the key protein that feeds them and helps them survive. This protein, known as the Nuclear Factor – kappa B (or NF-kB for short), can be found in the nucleus of all cells and activates the genes that are essential for the cells survival. An assistant professor of the Biochemistry And Molecular Genetics department at the University Of Virginia, Marty Mayo was pretty impressed to see that using physiologically relevant doses of resveratrol led to positive and dramatic effects on human cancer cells.

Mayo also added that the amount of resveratrol found in a glass of wine taken 3 to 4 times a week is the perfect amount for blocking the protein’s function and from feeding the cancer cells. However, Mayo also warned that drinking more than that could inhibit this effect and could even lead to greater risks of cancer; doing more harm than good in the long run.

These discoveries and findings, which were published on the Journal Of The European Molecular Biology Organization’s (EMBO) online version showed that cancer cells that are treated with resveratrol all died because they became sensitive to the compound known as Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (that’s TNFa for short). Along with that, the scientists behind this study discovered that resveratrol started a reaction in the NF-kB molecule that caused the malignant and carcinogenic cells to commit suicide – a process which is known as apoptosis. For those of you who don’t know it, apoptosis is an essential goal in any cancer treatment.

The studies and clinical trials that take a closer look at the health benefits of red wine especially resveratrol (and its anti cancer properties) have been numerous and well documented. According to Mayo, the current tests and studies are using compounds that are similar to TNFa together with resveratrol to kill the cancer cells.

The clinical trials that used this combination of compounds in patients showed very promising and encouraging results. Right now, there are follow up studies that are looking to explain why this combination of TNFa compounds and resveratrol is very effective in fighting cancer and how it could improve current anti cancer therapies.

For those of you who don’t know it, resveratrol is an antioxidant that is found in numerous plants like grapes, raspberries, peanuts, blueberries, and those are just to name a few. They are manufactured to serve as the plant’s defenses against fungal infection especially during the rainy season. Needless to say, resveratrol is now on the lime light, being sold over the counter in the United States as a nutritional supplement.