Chemists and experts broke down the components of wine to see what’s really behind the health benefits it brings. In simpler terms, wine is beefed up with different plant compounds. Sadly, back then, resveratrol together with other beneficial components of wine were discarded as toxicants. Nobody paid close attention to resveratrol until someone, a scientist, tried to figure out the mystery behind the French Paradox – why the French people could indulge in foods and dishes that contain high amounts of saturated fat and still have the lowest occurrences of cardiovascular diseases and obesity.

As it turns out, resveratrol is the answer to the mystery. For those of you who don’t know it, resveratrol is bioavailable in certain plants and vines like pine trees, peanuts, grapes, and those are just to name a few. In addition to that, Polygonum cuspidatum (one of the resveratrol carrying plants) is an ingredient in traditional Asian medicines. It is even prescribed to people who are suffering from liver and heart conditions. During the early 90’s, when it was determined that wine was the most likely answer to the French Paradox, many scientists realized that the resveratrol content of wine is the secret ingredient to a healthy heart. The studies and research on resveratrol quickly began, and within just a decade or so, the findings were very positive. Significant antioxidant activity, shows great potential for preventing cardiovascular disease, excellent inhibitor, no toxic effect on cells – these are just some of the benefits of resveratrol that were uncovered.

Research On Resveratrol – Fighting Off Alzheimer’s Disease
Just recently, it was seen that resveratrol contains a mechanism for eliminating free radicals. For those of you who don’t know it, free radicals are responsible for putting your important organs and systems under great stress and eventually cause it to break down. The question is – can resveratrol’s mechanism for eliminating free radicals and help us fight against diseases like Alzheimer’s? While the research and studies concerning this are still in their infancy, they indicate that resveratrol supplements could play an important role in preventing the said disease and helping those who are at risk. You see, the brain, just like the heart, is composed primarily with fatty acids. They need protection against oxidized fat.

For those who are not familiar with Alzheimer’s Disease, patients suffering from it produces an abnormal peptide which is known as beta amyloid in their brains. This piece of protein provokes oxidative stress, eventually killing the cells due to massive amounts of free radicals. Resveratrol, according to research, can protect the brain against oxidative stress and keep the brain cells alive and kicking. Additionally, research have shown that adding antioxidants like Vitamins C and E added to resveratrol can provide greater brain protection than taking these antioxidants by themselves.

Research On Resveratrol –Activating The Longevity Gene
Looking at a widely publicized and very popular report, the researchers and scientists at Harvard Medical School together with the guys at BIOMOL Research Laboratories found out that resveratrol is the key for activating the longevity gene in yeasts that extends its lifespan by a whopping 70 percent. The benefits brought by resveratrol imitates the health benefits you get from a calorie restricted diet, which is the only tried and tested way of lengthening the maximum lifespan. Even if the study was done only in yeast, flies, worms, and other lower organisms, humans do have their own life extending gene. Only more research and studies will reveal if resveratrol has the same effect.

What do studies and research on resveratrol reveal? Is it really that beneficial for health? Can it really improve your health, help you fight cancer, and slow down aging just like the manufacturers of resveratrol supplements claim? Come with me as I take a closer look at different studies and researches on this flavonoid:

Research On Resveratrol –Nature 2006
In a research published in Nature back in 2006, it was seen that flavonoid resveratrol, which naturally exists in grapes, red wine, nuts, etc., can help improve health and negate the unpleasant effects of calorie rich diet on mice. The mice that were fed with resveratrol lived longer, showed fewer signs of suffering from diabetes, and were able to maintain good control on their motor skills despite old age. According to the experts behind this research, consumption of resveratrol lead to a healthier and longer life thanks to the flavonoids ability to activate sirtuin activity.

For those of you who don’t know it, sirtuins are enzymes that (according to hypothesis) play a crucial role in an organ’s response to high levels of stress. They have also been theorized to increase life span when you are on a calorie restricted diet. Here’s the question, however, will resveratrol have the same effects on humans as it did on mice? That’s the question that many human studies and research on resveratrol are hoping to answer. Be on the watch!

Research On Resveratrol –Increase Endurance, Reduce Exhaustion
According to a report by the New York Times concerning a research on resveratrol, it may have the potential to help us run faster for a longer period of time. If you are an athlete, aspires to be one, or if you are constantly engaging on physically stressful activities, listen up! In this study covered by The New York Times, the mice fed with resveratrol were able to run twice as far as those mice that were not fed with resveratrol before collapsing due to exhaustion.In another research on resveratrol that was conducted at the Institute Of Genetics And Molecular And Cellular Biology (located in France), it was suggested that resveratrol fed mice are powered with energy charged muscles as well as reduced heart rate. That’s something that only trained athletes have!

More Benefits Of Resveratrol!
Boosts up your cardiovascular system and protects your heart. This flavonoid could lower the risk of different cardiovascular diseases and disorders by lowering the levels of Low Density Lypopolites (or LDL for short) or bad cholesterol. This plant extract also wards off and prevents cholesterol plague from settling on the artery walls and helps keep your arteries and heart very healthy. Combined with the fact that it helps in blood circulation, taking resveratrol for a healthy cardiovascular system is a MUST!

Prevents cell damage – resveratrol is jam packed with antioxidants. For those of you who don’t know it, antioxidants specialize in eliminating free radicals that sucks the life out of your cells and causes damage to your important organs when left alone. With these free radicals wiped out by the antioxidants from resveratrol, you are assured that your cells are renewed on a regular basis.

Significantly reduces the risk of cancer –according to different studies, resveratrol reaches all the way down to the core energy source (that’s the mitochondria by the way) of the mutated cancer cells, ultimately destroying it. Preventing cancer cells from initiating, promoting, and progressing, resveratrol is one powerful anti cancer and anti leukemia agent!

French Paradox Resveratrol Connection – Is it For REAL?
Resveratrol – this powerful polyphenol and anti fungal chemical, which is known to be naturally produced and found as the bioactive compound found in grapes and red wine, is believed to be the answer to the mystery known as the French Paradox. For those of you who don’t know it, this term is coined way back in 1992 by Dr Renaud, who was working at the Bordeaux University, to describe the low occurrences of heart and cardiovascular disease and obesity in France (specifically Southern France) despite their diet which usually contains a lot of wine and 3 times more saturated fat than the average American diet.

“Beginning in the early 1990s the word resveratrol started beeping on people’s radar screens,” Bert Scwhitters, who is the presiding officer of INC (which is a supplier of OPC’s) said. Nobody can doubt that resveratrol is one of the most popular micro ingredients and plant extracts around. BUT the question is – does the French Paradox resveratrol connection really exist? Let’s take a look at the research and findings done by the experts:

French Paradox Resveratrol Connection – A Longer And Healthier Life
Back in 2003, Dr David Sinclair together with his team from Harvard University added extending one’s life and keeping you healthy as one of the possible benefits that resveratrol has and published it in the popular publication Nature. This is after finding out that the said plant extract increased the survival of yeast cells. After that, different studies using nematode worms, fruit flies, mice, etc. as test subjects have linked resveratrol to longer life spans. To make the whole affair sound more appealing, more studies involving pure resveratrol revealed anti cancer and anti inflammatory benefits. “One of the most promising molecules in the planet” – that’s how Bill Sardi, the co founder as well as president of Resveratrol Partners, described the molecule that offers a wide range of health benefits.

HOWEVER, there is one thing to keep in mind – linking the French Paradox ONLY to resveratrol is another issue. And there are questions concerning the dose – how much is enough to gain health benefits. With the answer to that question still in doubt, the whole French Paradox resveratrol connection is in doubt. You would find many suppliers of resveratrol and resveratrol powered supplements admitting that the French Paradox resveratrol connection is a little hazy – much is still in doubt and it’s NOT cut and dried. According to Sami Sassi, who is the produce manager for a Danish company known as Fluxome, the jury is still debating on the French Paradox resveratrol connection.

The Conclusion…
Is resveratrol really the ingredient behind the connection? Or is resveratrol just another hyped up ingredient that will fade back into obscurity after a year or so? Let us hear what the health experts and doctors have to say about it. Bill Sardi concluded that resveratrol is still a superlative molecule, BUT they are sure that the French Paradox is caused by different molecules and micro ingredients and that resveratrol is included in the list. Another doctor – Dipak Das of University Of Connecticut, on the other hand, disagrees with what Sardi says. According to Dr. Das, they are very certain that resveratrol is the answer to the French Paradox connection. It’s the dose question that makes it all unclear. Dr. Das added that the folks from Harvard University said that you need like 30 bottles of red wine to get significant benefit, BUT he believes you need very little.

In light of the debate, one thing is for sure – resveratrol is beneficial to us! That holds true whether the French Paradox resveratrol connection is clear or not. The anti cancer and anti inflammatory effects, the bolstering of the cardiovascular system, and other health benefits of resveratrol revealed through different studies are NOT to be ignored. It’s about time you take advantage of it.

This resveratrol cancer study has been published in the March edition of the journal – Advances In Experimental Medicine And Biology. This study also revealed that when the cancer cells found in the pancreas were doubly assaulted – treated with resveratrol and irradiated – the treatment induces the cell death known as apoptosis. Just in case you don’t know, this type of cell death is one of the most crucial goals of cancer therapy. According to the lead author of the said medicinal journal Paul Okunieff, who is the chief of Radiation Oncology of the James P Wilmot Cancer Center located at the University Of Rochester Medical Center, this research have many implications for patients suffering from cancer.

While consuming red wine together with chemotherapy and radiation treatment hasn’t been very well studied, it doesn’t contradict according Paul Okunieff. In simpler terms, if a cancer patient is already drinking red wine at moderate amounts, most likely, their physician wouldn’t tell them to give it up while undergoing treatment. Here’s a much better choice according to Okuneiff – drink as much red or purple grape juice (which is oozing with resveratrol) as desired.

HOWEVER, despite the widespread interest in antioxidants and their benefits, not all physicians see it in a favorable light. Many health experts and doctors are concerned that antioxidants could end up protecting the cancer cells and tumors instead of fighting and warding them off. But according to Paul Okunieff’s study, that is NOT the case. There is very little evidence found in different resveratrol cancer studies to support this fear. Matter of fact, the study done by Paul Okunieff even revealed that resveratrol doesn’t just injure the core energy source of the harmful and mutated cells, it even protects normal tissues from the not so friendly effects of radiation treatment, chemotherapy, and other cancer treatments.

There is one challenge, however. And that is to find the right concentration and to find out how it works inside the cells. As for the right amount of resveratrol, much is still in the air. How it works, though, has been very clear in this resveratrol cancer study by Paul Okunieff – it makes mutated and harmful tumor cells more sensitive to radiation while making healthy and normal tissues less sensitive. This makes perfect sense as resveratrol has the ability to protect plants against fungi and other bacteria. Purified versions of resveratrol have been shown in different scientific journals and resveratrol cancer studies as an anti cancer, anti inflammatory, and anti atherogenic agent coupled with their ability to keep cell growth at normal levels.

Different laboratory experiments have shown that resveratrol could:

- Reduce the function of proteins found in cancer cells in the pancreas. These proteins are responsible for pumping out chemotherapy from the cells. Without them, the cancer cells are chemo sensitive.

- Trigger the production of reactive oxygen species, which is also known as ROS in cancer cells. This is a substance that circulates in the human body and have been implicated in different diseases. When ROS increases in cancer cells, it burns out and die.

And those are just to name a few!

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.

The guys from Harvard Medical School also want to find out. To uncover the truth, they conducted a study to explore the effect that resveratrol has on obesity and to those individuals who have a high fat diet. The researchers from Harvard used mice to see if high doses of resveratrol have any positive and significant impact on obese mice. What’s the result of this Harvard study on resveratrol? Read on and find out:

Harvard Study On Resveratrol – Confirming What Previous Studies Showed
Before this Harvard study on resveratrol, there were previous studies that demonstrated the link between resveratrol as well as benefits on the cardiovascular system in lower organisms. The Harvard research and study team wanted to see if this link exists in higher mammals. The study is composed of several groups of mice – first, there was the control group that was fed with a normal diet, a group of mice that is fed with a diet that is oozing with fat, and a group of mice that was fed with high fat and cholesterol diet BUT with a resveratrol supplement. The conclusion? The group of mice that were fed with high fat diet showed shorter lifespans and also indicated signs of obesity as well as cardiovascular diseases. The control group, on the other hand, didn’t show high rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease.

HOWEVER, the results that excited the research team the MOST was the test group that was given with high fat diet coupled with a resveratrol supplement. Why? SIMPLE! This group displayed better endurance, longer life spans, less cardiovascular stress, and less symptoms of diabetes compared to the group fed with high fat diet only. There is only one difference between these 2 groups – the resveratrol supplement. And that means resveratrol is INDEED beneficial to one’s health. Just in case you don’t know, this is the first ever study that demonstrated resveratrol’s benefits to cardiovascular health and in warding off the adverse effects of obesity in mammals.

Harvard Study On Resveratrol – Taking It A Step Forward
The researchers for the Harvard study wasn’t quite contented with their findings. Instead of stopping with the question “Does resveratrol have any positive impact on health?” and answering it, the researchers took it a step forward and tried to answer the question why. It was soon discovered that resveratrol has the power to reverse the gene expressions that a diet jam packed with fat has. One enzyme was of particular interest to them – it became known as the SIRT1. Previous studies have indicated that this enzyme positively impacts life spans, obesity levels, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and those are just to name a few. The researchers from Harvard believes that resveratrol is beneficial to one’s health by stimulating the SIRT1 enzyme.

Harvard Study On Resveratrol – The Conclusion
No doubt, this study from Harvard is promising NOT only in showing the benefits that resveratrol has on higher mammals BUT also in determining under what mechanism this polyphenol works. HOWEVER, more studies are needed to have everything clear cut. Bottom line – resveratrol seems to have the potential to increase our understanding of nutrition as well as aging. Be on the watch as more research and studies uncover the truth about resveratrol.