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Does Resveratrol Extend Ones Lifespan?

Resveratrol is a phytonutrient molecule whose time has come. It is a polyphenolic phytoalexin present in grape skins and red wine that has been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Resveratrol has potent antioxidant and anti-tumorigenic activities as well as important protective effects on the nervous system and more.

This component of red wine has been found to inhibit the proliferation of a variety of human cancer cell lines, including those from breast, prostate, stomach, colon, pancreatic, and thyroid cancers. More recently, reports on the potential for resveratrol to inhibit the development of cancer and extend lifespan in cell culture and animal models have continued to generate scientific interest.

Clinical trials are currently underway to address this question and to also determine whether resveratrol might be beneficial in cancer treatment. There is an extensive and growing amount of work devoted to the possible links between diet and a reduction in the risk of breast cancer as well as other forms of cancer. Recently, reports have come in that resveratrol could inhibit a number of cellular events associated with the initiation, promotion, and progression of cancer.

Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging report that a natural substance found in red wine, known as resveratrol, offsets the bad effects of a high-calorie diet in mice and significantly extends their lifespan. Research at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and Ohio State University indicates that resveratrol has direct inhibitory action on cardiac fibroblasts and may inhibit the progression of cardiac fibrosis. Furthermore, researchers discovered that the liver and other systems in obese mice remained healthy (when they should not have) and fat related deaths dropped thirty one percent for those mice given a resveratrol supplement.

Research by Harvard Medical School Professor of Pathology David Sinclair, MD has shown that resveratrol extends the life span of mice by up to twenty four percent and the life span of other animals by as much as fifty nine percent. Another way this research differs from earlier work is that it looks specifically at the expression of genes known to be affected by aging in several important tissue types. The group explored the influence of the agent on heart, muscle and brain by looking for changes in gene expression in those tissues.

Insulin and glucose levels in mice on the high fat plus resveratrol diet were closer to the mice on standard diet than to the mice on the high fat diet. Resveratrol again demonstrated changes associated with longer lifespan, including increased insulin sensitivity, reduced insulin like growth factor-1 levels, increased AMP activated protein kinase and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-gamma coactivator 1alpha activity, increased mitochondrial number, and improved motor function. But, in contrast resveratrol treatment had no significant effect on body weight, serum cholesterol, radial bone growth, epithelial cell height, or messenger RNA levels for insulin-like growth factor I.

Resveratrol supplements on the market today may contain anywhere from 10 to 150 mg of resveratrol per pill, but the effective doses for chronic disease prevention in humans are not known. Resveratrol is not known to be toxic or cause adverse effects in humans, but there have been only a few controlled clinical trials to date. However since there aren't studies in humans, it's impossible to say how much resveratrol is needed to create health benefits.

The amount of resveratrol in food varies greatly. Of course, understanding exactly how procyanidins work in the human body remains to be investigated, and the researchers plan to dose people with the compound in a future clinical trial. Resveratrol is a good antioxidant in any potency to help reduce oxidative stress, improving the immune system, cardiovascular system, and all other parts of the body that benefit from antioxidants.

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Darrell Miller - About the Author:
More information on resveratrol supplements is available at VitaNet ®, LLC Health Food Store. http://vitanetonline.com/

Health Benefits Of Resveratrol

Health Benefits Of Resveratrol

By: Paul Rodgers

If you are trying to become a more heath conscious person then you will want to consider adding Resveratrol to your daily regimen, it will provide you with many benefits to your health.

You will be providing yourself with all of the benefits of the Resveratrol without the need to consume alcohol, this is a major plus for those that either doesn't like the taste of red wine, are alcoholics, or those that just don't like the thought of consuming alcohol on a daily basis.

Now everyone can be afforded those same benefits regardless of their thoughts of consuming large amounts of alcohol. Because the amount of resveratrol found in red wine is in such low doses, you might need to drink hundreds or thousands of bottles of red wine a day to see the same results as the tests performed on the lab mice. Resveratrol supplements are a concentrated dose of the molecule and therefore have a stronger effect.

Resveratrol may help prevent diseases and other age-related deterioration. In studies performed on lab mice, researchers have found that resveratrol may have several positive health effects including:

Preventing heart disease
It can improve the cardiovascular system
Preventing Type 2 diabetes
Preventing certain types of cancer, including prostate and breast cancer
Preventing Alzheimer's Increasing bone health
Counteracting a high-fat diet
Aiding in weight loss
Increasing life span.


To have a simple nutrient being able to accomplish so much is quite remarkable. Aside from that, it is also known to improve the function of estrogen hormones. It acts as an effective enhancer of the neuroendocrine system at the same time.

Of course, scientists have yet to determine the proper amount of resveratrol needed for humans to have the same effects shown in mice. Nevertheless, resveratrol can be taken straight from red wine and as supplements. The French people have drinking red wine as part of their regular daily eating habits. They have been observed to have lower risks in obtaining diseases, such as heart ailments, cancers, diabetes and other degenerative illnesses. Moreover, they are among the humans to have slow aging process.

As time goes on, we will be able to see what the long term positive effects are of all the resveratrol supplements on the market today. You know that you will probably see a huge influx of different products in the near future touting this super new discovery.

About the Author

When there is something so simple that you can do as to just add the intake of Resveratrol to your daily regimen, it doesn't make any sense to not do this. It doesn't matter how well you treat your body and how health conscious of a person you are, or are not. You can still get the many benefits of Resveratrol. Find out more about Health Benefits Of Resveratrol


Paul Rodgers specializes in marketing natural health and beauty products

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