New Study Sheds Light on Resveratrol as an Antioxidant Supplement
London (PRWEB UK) 31 July 2013 -- It is impossible to stop the process of ageing, but there are plenty of ways to slow down its effects. During the last decade of medical research, a lot of attention has been given to the chemical resveratrol and its interaction with the ageing genes.
Resveratrol is most commonly found in the skin of red grapes and, of course, in the red wine or vinegar made from them. This is possibly the cause of the French Paradox, which is a lower percentage of age-related illnesses in countries that consume red wine daily, although there has been no concrete evidence so far to prove it.
Dr. David Sinclair’s group, from the Harvard Medical School, published a study in 2006 showing that resveratrol could extend the lifespan of mice, although the most outstanding results were on yeast and controlled cells in test tube.1
Since then the supporting research on cells in laboratory models has been quite substantial, but human trials have only recently been initiated, and only recently data has emerged to describe the effects of resveratrol supplementation to physiological responses in humans.
Today resveratrol is widely available as a dietary supplement, even though the exact benefits, dosage, or long-term side effects cannot be fully understood without many more years of on-going research.
For example a study conducted by senior investigator Samuel Klein, MD, at the Washington University of Medicine in St. Louis in October 2012, demonstrated that resveratrol supplementation does not have beneficial metabolic effects in non-obese, postmenopausal women with normal glucose tolerance.
This study involved 29 post-menopausal women who did not have type 2 diabetes and who were reasonably healthy. For 12 weeks, 15 post-menopausal women were given 75 milligrams of resveratrol daily, the same amount they'd get from drinking 8 litres of red wine, and then their insulin sensitivity was compared to 14 others who took a placebo.
Klein said, "We were unable to detect any effect of resveratrol. In addition, we took small samples of muscle and fat tissue from these women to look for possible effects of resveratrol in the body's cells, and again, we could not find any changes in the signalling pathways involved in metabolism." 2
A new view, based on a pivotal study by Lasse Gliemann, a PhD student at The University of Copenhagen surprisingly suggests that eating a diet rich in antioxidants, such as resveratrol, may actually counteract many of the health benefits of exercise, including reduced blood pressure and cholesterol.
“We studied 27 healthy, physically inactive men around 65 years old for 8 weeks,” said Ylva Hellsten, the leader of the project. “During the 8 weeks all of the men performed high-intensity exercise training and half of the group received 250 mg of resveratrol daily, whereas the other group received a pill containing no active ingredient. We found that exercise training was highly effective in improving cardiovascular health parameters, but resveratrol supplementation attenuated the positive effects of training on several parameters including blood pressure, plasma lipid concentrations and maximal oxygen uptake.” 3
It could be that a certain amount of oxidant stress is needed in the body to trigger correct responses that enable healthy living, like a signal that causes the body to follow through with exercise and other responses that have long-term health benefits, without causing ageing and disease. Resveratrol may or may not be the key to eternal youth, but healthy living and moderation are good habits to develop until science can prove otherwise.
1) http://hms.harvard.edu/news/new-study-validates-longevity-pathway-3-7-13
2) http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/retrieve/pii/S1550413112003993
3) http://news.ku.dk/all_news/2013/2013.7/antioxidants_too_much_of_a_good_thing/
Samantha Smith, Chemist Direct, 0121 541 4952, [email protected]
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