Resveratrol may Combat Obesity, Improve Endurance, and Extend Life
December, 2006: Resveratrol is a complex carbohydrate produced by grapes to help them live healthier. For people or animals, science has linked resveratrol consumption to numerous benefits such as cardiovascular health, mental and brain health, and cellular regulation. Now two new studies identify more benefits to resveratrol: combating obesity, improving physical endurance, and life extension.
In the first study, published in the journal Nature, middle age mice were started on one of three diets: standard calorie, high calorie, or high calorie diet with added resveratrol. The mice then went about their lives and researchers monitored how long and how well the mice lived. The mice with resveratrol in their diet lived longer than the high calorie mice, whose life spans were shortened even before they got to "old age". This was in line with other studies that have shown that resveratrol extends the life of other animals.
In addition to living longer, resveratrol addition to the diet improved how well the mice lived. Although resveratrol in the Nature study didn't prevent weight gain from the high calorie diet, it did improve the quality of life. When consuming too many calories, mice that also ate resveratrol had better blood test results which, in humans, predict the start of diabetes. The heart tissues of the high calorie resveratrol mice were similar to that of standard calorie mice and much stronger than the high calorie mice. Livers of the mice in the resveratrol group were not worked as hard by the high calorie diet, looking like the standard diet livers. One author, Rafael de Cabo, PhD, said about the research, "After six months, resveratrol essentially prevented most of the negative effects of the high calorie diet."
In second study, published in the journal Cell, mice were fed a standard calorie, high calorie, or high calorie plus resveratrol diet. These researchers found that added resveratrol significantly reduced weight gain while on a high calorie diet, nearly to the level of the standard calorie diet. The resveratrol also seemed to increase mitochondria activity. Mitochondria are the power plants for all animal cells, and by increasing the basal metabolic rate, dietary resveratrol reduced the mice’s weight gain. Regardless of diet, resveratrol also improved the mice’s endurance, allowing them to run nearly twice as far before they became exhausted.
While red wine gets much of the publicity for its resveratrol content or heart healthiness, Concord grapes contain resveratrol as well. Since wines are made in smaller quantities, the resveratrol content can vary widely. The resveratrol content of Concord grape juice is typically more consistent from batch to batch and higher than most red wines. Only Growers Co-op delivers 100% Concord juice.