Red Wine Linked to Longer Life

Grape ingredient could be used for anti-aging drugs
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 4, 2008 5:19 AM CDT
Red Wine Linked to Longer Life
A Bosnia Orthodox priest inspects color and quality of wine .in the monastery of Tvrdos in a remote area of southern Bosnia-Herzegovina,   (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Researchers have found new signs that the fountain of youth could be filled with red wine, the New York Times reports. Resveratrol, an ingredient in grape skins, has been found to slow the effects of aging by triggering a change in the body—making it switch resources from fertility to tissue maintenance. Some scientists are so impressed by the findings that they're already taking resveratrol capsules.

Early studies on mice indicated that humans would have to guzzle more than their body weight in wine daily to get the same benefits, but new research has found that resveratrol can be effective in much smaller doses. Drug companies are showing interest, but more conclusive evidence of the compound's ability to slow aging depends on two trials on monkeys that are still ongoing, and so far producing conflicting results. (More health stories.)

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