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Can Red Wine Help You Live Longer?
Drinking red wine offers benefits similar to low
calorie diet.
By Kelli Miller Stacey
WebMD Health News
Here's a new reason to toast red
wine: A natural compound called resveratrol, found
in certain red wines, may trick the body into
thinking it's getting fewer calories than it
actually is -- and you don't need to overindulge to
reap the reward.
Research published in the June 3 issue of the
online, open-access journal Public Library of
Science One (PLoS One) suggests that drinking red
wine may offer many of the same benefits as a
reduced-calorie diet.
A
team of international researchers found that low
doses of resveratrol slowed the aging process in
middle-aged mice and improved their overall heart
health. Specifically, the results observed in the
resveratrol-fed mice mimicked those often seen with
caloric restriction -- the practice of cutting
20%-30% of calories out of one's typical diet in an
effort to improve health and prolong life. Numerous
studies have linked caloric restriction to a longer,
healthier life.
What's more, the study researchers discovered that
resveratrol is active in much lower doses than
previously thought. Until now, researchers believed
that high doses of resveratrol -- impossible to
obtain by drinking wine -- were necessary to ward
off the unhealthy consequences of eating a high-fat,
high-calorie diet.
"This brings down the dose of resveratrol toward the
consumption reality mode," study researcher Richard
Weindruch, a University of Wisconsin-Madison
professor of medicine and a researcher at the
William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital,
says in a news release.
The
researchers believe their findings provide strong
evidence that resveratrol can improve one's quality
of life and call the idea of low-dose resveratrol
supplementation -- in the form of wine or perhaps
one day a pill -- "a robust intervention in the
retardation of cardiac aging."
Drinking one or two glasses of red wine each day can
protect against cardiovascular disease in certain
people. However, more than that can result in
negative effects that outweigh the positive ones.
For example, drinking too much alcohol can raise the
levels of triglycerides in some people.
Finally, drinking red wine does not completely
negate poor lifestyle choices. The
calorie-restricted mice had lower rates of cancer.
There was no comparable reduction in the incidence
of tumors in the resveratrol-supplemented mice. So
attaining and maintaining a normal weight, eating a
sensible diet, and engaging in regular exercise
remain important components for living a long and
healthy life.
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
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Drinking one or
two glasses of red wine each day can protect
against cardiovascular disease in certain
people. |
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