Drinking glass or two of red wine
By Elizabeth Weise, USA PARIS Consumers flocking to health food stores for the latest elixir of life the red wine ingredient resveratrol might want to wait year or two, experts say. Its found in grapes, berries, peanuts, green teas and some nuts. Its probably one ingredient in what scientists call The French Paradox. Thats the intriguing fact that although the French highfat diet, they have relatively low rates of heart disease and higher longevity. But he says its premature for consumers to think theyll be able to run out and buy supplement thats going to work.
Print But for consumers seeking the benefit in tablet form, there arent many options just yet. The best thing for consumer to do is to diet thats very high in natural color, Shao says. Not so fast, says Rafael De Cabo of the National Institute on Aging, one of the principal investigators in the study published three weeks in the journal Nature reports that in regions of southwest France, where traditional winemaking practices cause wine to retain more polyphenol compounds, census figures show lower rates of heart disease and higher longevity.
But for consumers seeking the benefit in tablet form, there arent many options just yet. Because grapes are pricey and the pulp yields relatively low levels of the compound, some supplement companies instead make an extract from grape seed and grape skin. These extracts are high in other polyphenols but not actually in resveratrol, says Andrew Shao of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, supplement industry trade association. But he says its premature for consumers to think theyll be able to run out and buy supplement thats going to work.
It would be impossible to drink enough red wine daily to reach them. The more colorful your diet, the more of these polyphenols from berries and fruits and vegetables youll receive. Because resveratrol can be expensive to produce, its generally sold in smaller doses than the grams day that would be the human equivalent of what was fed to mice in the Science study.
There are no products available that have been clinically tested, so their safety and ability to improve health is totally unknown, says David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School, coauthor of the Science paper. Its found in grapes, berries, peanuts, green teas and some nuts. The good news is that those studies have begun and should be published in year or so. Because grapes are pricey and the pulp yields relatively low levels of the compound, some supplement companies instead make an extract from grape seed and grape skin.
Tags: longevity, natural, red wine