We
are about to experience the greatest health wave of the 21st
Century.
Resveratrol is reported by the media with excited anticipation of its
potential in the metabolic support of the immune system, anti-aging, sports
performance, cancer concerns, and life extension. Resveratrol, found in red
grapes, fruits, berries and root extracts, was first isolated in 1940 as a
constituent of Japanese Knotweed and the Hy Zhang Root Extract (Polygonum
capsidatum). Modernly, it has
since been found in red wine and peanuts.
The bio-active chemical configuration is
3,5,4’-tri-hydroxy-trans-stilbene, a potent antioxidant.
Featured on the Barbara Walters
special “Live to 150,” Resveratrol
has been in the news a great deal!
Led by Dr. David Sinclair at Harvard
University, research studies continue to find more interesting benefits
from this compound, including potential anti-cancer, anti-aging, and life
extension activity. Considerable attention is focused on anticancer
properties, both in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. It is not surprising that Resveratrol is shaping up to be the greatest
nutritional discovery of our lifetimes. The media has nicknamed Resveratrol
as the “fountain of youth”, and you will soon read some of the
scientific data that gave birth to this worldwide interest.
Beginning
November 1, 2006
nearly 500 newspapers reported on the
Resveratrol story and virtually every major TV news department followed. The
news media heralded a study which showed that a high-dose, “red wine
molecule”, maintained the quality of life of laboratory mice (balance and
coordination) as they aged despite a high-fat diet the high-fat fed mice
lived 31% longer when given resveratrol.
Next, the anti-nutritional supplement news media began swaying consumers
towards wine (a major source of resveratrol) because, as some authorities
claimed, there was an uncertainty over the sources and safety of Resveratrol
supplementation. Forget that the
EPA deems resveratrol to be non-toxic. Forget that animal studies show the
equivalent of 21,000 milligrams in humans would be non-toxic. Forget that
three human clinical trials using 500 milligrams of resveratrol have passed
the safety arm of their study. Forget that the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences has conducted a toxicity review of
resveratrol, and no major side effects are noted.
For the record, resveratrol is far safer than any alcoholic beverage
and even safer than aspirin. When an alternative to an alcoholic beverage
was available, a fact, which should have been heralded, modern medicine and
the news media, in a phobic aversion to dietary supplements, advised the
public to “get drunk” on wine.
So
90 percent of the news reports said, until proven otherwise, wine was safer
than pills. Conversely,
reporters further explained it would take too much wine to produce the same
health benefits as shown in the recent study and consumers would have to
drink about a case of wine per day to achieve the health benefits. Reporters
drove this story into the ground until one wondered why they were even
reporting it.
What
dosage?
The human equivalent dose for
160-pound adult would be about 1575 milligrams of Resveratrol to produce the
health benefits noted in the mouse study. The reporters didn’t interpret
the study carefully, published in the research journal Nature, which
concluded an effective dose of 364 milligrams (for a 160-pound adult)
translated to similar health benefits.
Furthermore, the mice were engorged with fat, 60% of their daily calorie
intake. Americans once consumed about 45% of daily calories from fat (1965),
but that number has dropped to about 34% (2002). Unfortunately,
approximately 200 million Americans are reported to have a Body Mass Index
greater than 26, indicating an overweight or obese status.
Comprehensive review of the published literature on Resveratrol
suggests a lower amount of resveratrol, 180 mg daily, would likely be
effective for supporting healthy wellness.
To add to the confusion, a Big Pharma-paid university researcher
“consultant” advised a Canadian news reporter that resveratrol is not
biologically available in oral doses. This
conflicted with published research from the Heart Institute, Montreal Canada
and the recent National Institute of Health /Harvard study on aging and life
extension that had proven otherwise (the laboratory study mice consumed oral
doses in the research project).
Can
the public sort through the spin?
One wonders how a great discovery like penicillin would be dealt with by
reporters and doctors today? Recall
that penicillin never underwent a double blind, placebo-controlled study to
prove its safety and effectiveness. It was first used successfully to cure
an eye infection in a young boy.
Modernly, the National Institute of Health would claim penicillin was
limited to evidence-based research and still unproven, subject to clinical
trials and safety studies before it could be commonly prescribed. Drug
companies would drive the price of penicillin to thousands of dollars,
declaring a shortage!
As
future breakthroughs in healthcare are reported, doctors and the news media
are going to spin the story endlessly to their own ends. It’s going to
take an astute, internet-savvy, adept citizenry to recognize that the
emergence of significant research throughout the world is now focused and
published on resveratrol. These
recent resveratrol studies are on a par with Alexander Fleming’s discovery
of penicillin or Louis Pasteur’s use of heat to destroy pathogenic
bacteria (Pasteurization).
Significance
of Resveratrol
Resveratrol will change the world
for the better, but only if the public can navigate through the conflicting
interpretations by doctors and news reporters. Resveratrol
is a potent anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory,
anti-cancer, anti-estrogen, anti-cholesterol, weight controlling, blood
pressure and blood sugar-normalizing
agent. The drug companies know what resveratrol portends – the end of
their charade that different drugs are needed for each disease and that
synthetic molecules work better than nature.
This is riveting food for thought.
Resveratrol Activates a Longevity Gene (Anti-Aging)
In a widely publicized report,
researchers at
Harvard
Medical
School
and BIOMOL Laboratories have demonstrated
that resveratrol activates a “longevity gene” by activating a cell’s
survival defense enzyme, which prolongs the time cells have to repair their
broken DNA.
One of the known causes of aging and death is that older cells lose their
ability to perfectly replicate DNA in every new cell. DNA “mistakes”
accumulate and allow little pieces of DNA to become active and print
themselves out, so to speak, creating a type of “DNA debris” that
eventually stops a cell from functioning effectively. It is similar to
printing out a report and having a couple of pages at the end not contain
any relevant information-so you throw them away. The cell can’t throw away
the extra “printed out” DNA; it accumulates and clogs up the cell. This
build up of “debris” is connected to aging, and the death of individual
cells. Resveratrol reduces the frequency of “DNA debris” by 60% through
the longevity gene that is stimulated. [25-27, 11, 16]*
Resveratrol’s ability to activate the gene has to do with its chemical
structure, not its antioxidant potential. It works by increasing the rate of
a reaction known as “deacetylation.” Acetylation reactions affect
whether a gene is “off” or “on.” This is extremely important. In
cancer cells, for example, genes are activated that aren’t supposed to be
and vice versa. By controlling deacetylation and augmenting the longevity
gene, resveratrol is able to confer some serious life extension benefits-at
least in the laboratory organisms.
Resveratrol
and Cancer
Cancer
is perhaps, the most dynamic area of resveratrol research. Resveratrol is
the first natural medicinal to have solid evidence behind it showing that it
blocks or stops many stages of cancer. Resveratrol not only prevents cancer,
it’s being proposed as an additional treatment. [11-13]*
The
number of studies has exploded in the past three years, with the depth of
knowledge about this polyphenol increasing with each report. Resveratrol is
a broad-spectrum agent that stops cancer in many diverse ways, from blocking
estrogen and androgens to modulating genes. [14-17]*
Some
of the latest information reveals that resveratrol causes a unique type of
cell death (cell apoptosis),[11] and kills cancer cells whether they do or
do not have the tumor suppressor gene,[18] it also works whether cancer
cells are estrogen receptor-positive or negative.[15,19]*
Researchers
in
Austria
have done elaborate studies showing that
resveratrol blocks the ability of cancer cells to metastasize to bone
(30-71%). [20] Effective in-vitro research results were reported for
pancreas, breast, renal, prostate and colon cancers.
All research with human-derived tumors are conducted in-vitro
or in life extension research terms, ex-vivo.
This means the tumor cells of a specific type of human cancer are
grown in cell culture and compounds such as resveratrol are studied to
determine the effectiveness in cell killing activity (cell apoptosis).
In vitro refers to the cell culture techniques and ex-vivo
refers to human cancer cell lines being used for the investigational
research study.
Resveratrol
also acts against a component of Western diet that promotes cancer cell
growth: linoleic acid. Linoleic acid is converted to arachidonic, which is
converted to hormone-like substances (such as prostaglandin E2 and
leukotriene B4) that can promote inflammatory processes that stimulate
cancer cell growth, among other things. Resveratrol specifically inhibits
the enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) to reverse inflammation.
It has been demonstrated that the western diet can cause colon cancer
in rodents without any other chemical or factor being necessary.[21] In a
study from Japan, resveratrol in an amount easily obtained by
supplementation, inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells, and blocked
the growth-promoting effects of linoleic acid from the Western diet.[22]*
Resveratrol works against a wide range of cancers, both
at the preventive and treatment stages. Its ability to stop cancer is
connected to its capability, first, to distinguish a cancer cell from a
normal cell. Unlike chemotherapeutic drugs that
Cancers Inhibited by Resveratrol According to published
research*
Colon,
Neuroblastoma, Esophageal, Breast (all types), Prostate (all types),
Leukemia (various types), Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Metastasis to bone,
Skin, Pancreas, Ovarian, Melanoma, Liver, Lung, Stomach, Oral, Cervical,
Lymphoma (various types), Thyroid *In laboratory
animals and/cell culture
Resveratrol
and Heart/Blood Vessels
One of the serious complications
of free radical damage is hardening and thickening of the arteries. A
“vicious cycle” of radicals, artery damage, and narrowing due to scar
tissue that, in turn, promotes more free radical activity and more damage,
has been described.[1] Resveratrol is being investigated for effectiveness
as treatment for this progressive process. The Heart Institute of Montreal,
Canada
has published research demonstrating that
Resveratrol lowers blood pressure. This
is an exciting area of interest in cardiovascular research.
Resveratrol’s antioxidant action helps stop free radical damage and
opens the arteries by enhancing nitric oxide.* Nitric oxide is a critical
component of heart/artery function. It allows blood vessels to “relax,”
which enhances blood flow. In a recent study, a high-cholesterol diet
decreased nitric oxide by about a third. Resveratrol supplements
significantly reversed the trend. [2] In this respect, resveratrol is
similar to Viagra, which also
affects nitric oxide. However, whereas Viagra only affects small vessels,
resveratrol affects the main arteries.
Finally, resveratrol also stops the proliferation of cells in the blood
vessels that narrow the arteries,[3] and it also keeps blood cells from
sticking together.[4] Both are very important for preventing heart attacks.
The ability of resveratrol to keep blood cells from sticking together was
investigated by Canadian researchers who wanted to know what role, if any;
other components of wine might play in the process. They found that ethanol
itself inhibited one type of stickiness-promoter (thrombin), and quercetin
(another polyphenol) inhibited a different one (12-HETE), but nothing else
they tested was active against this aspect of heart disease except
resveratrol, which inhibited not only thrombin, but a host of other
stickiness-promoting factors. [5]*
Resveratrol
and Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s patients produce an
abnormal peptide (a piece of protein) known as “beta-amyloid” in their
brains. Beta-amyloid provokes oxidative stress, and eventually cells are
killed because of the abnormally high levels of free radicals. The killing
of brain cells causes the gradual decline in Alzheimer’s patients. It has
been proven that resveratrol can protect the brain against oxidative stress,
and keep cells alive.[6,7]
Resveratrol
and Spinal Cord Injury/Stroke
A recent study by Chinese
researchers is notable. [9] If confirmed by other researchers, it could be
very important for people who undergo serious brain/spinal trauma or stroke.
In these types of injuries, the body’s response causes further injury, and
for that reason, people are treated with drugs like cortisone, and in the
case of stroke-aspirin. The idea is to reduce the body’s inflammatory
response to the injury.
The study from
China
showed that resveratrol reversed the signs
of inflammatory response to spinal cord injury on a level comparable to
prednisone (a steroid used to reduce inflammation), but with better energy
compensation and protected against free radicals, when injected immediately
after injury. Besides helping to ameliorate this type of injury through free
radical blockage, resveratrol actually inhibits specific enzymes that change
the way individual cells respond to the injury. It’s possible that if a
person regularly takes supplemental resveratrol, they will be more likely to
withstand a stroke or other injury to the brain. This has been demonstrated
in rodents pretreated 21 days with resveratrol.[10] Less motor damage, and
less brain damage occurred post-stroke.*
Resveratrol
and Diabetes
In November 2007, a study was
released in the publication Cell that indicated that resveratrol
administered orally to mice protected them from gaining weight and
developing diabetes. A lead researcher of the study, Johan Auwerx, said a
study of men and women from
Finland
revealed that resveratrol will likely
produce similar results in humans.
Resveratrol
and Antiviral Effects
A Northeastern Ohio Universities
College of Medicine Study found that multiple viral protein products were
reduced or completely blocked, as well as a reduction in viral DNA
production. [29]
A cell culture study found that resveratrol blocked the influenza virus from
transporting viral proteins to the viral assembly site, hence restricting
its ability to replicate. The effect was 90% when resveratrol was added six
hours after infection and continued for 24 hours thereafter. [30]
Resveratrol
and Athletic performance
Dr. Auwerx (
November 16, 2006
) New York Times [28] States that resveratrol
converts the structure of muscle to that of a trained athlete without the
training.
Dr. Auwerx attributes
this in large part to the significantly increased number of mitochondria he
detected in the muscle cells of treated mice.
Mitochondria are the organelles in the body’s cells that generate
energy, specifically the energy molecule, adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP).
The Resveratrol-fed mice, with extra new mitochondria, were able to
burn more fat as a fuel source, thus avoid weight gain, and decreased
sensitivity to insulin. This means they tolerated carbohydrates more
effectively and had an improved glucose tolerance factor.
An ordinary laboratory mouse will run one kilometer on a treadmill
before collapsing from exhaustion. However,
mice given resveratrol, run twice as far. They also have
energy-charged muscles and a reduced heart rate, just as trained athletes
do, according to an article published online in CELL by Johan Auwerx and
colleagues at the
Institute
of
Genetics
and Molecular and Cellular Biology in
Illkirch, France. This is the germinal research addressing
the impact of resveratrol in enhancing physical endurance and performance.
Conducting
your own Resveratrol evaluation:
We
encourage you to perform your own validation of Resveratrol and its
published research.
The United
States
government website for research is www.pubmed.gov. In-put Resveratrol in the search line:
There are over 2,386 published research reports, emerging from major
medical centers and universities throughout the world.
These statements have not
been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any
disease.
People with medical concerns should check with their physician before using
this or any dietary supplement.