This morning's New York Times has a story on new research into the proposed life-lengthening properties of reseveratrol, a chemical found in red wine. I'm sure most of us remember the last time this one came around--whatever else it did, it boosted sales of red wine. But as far as I can tell, there really isn't anything new to be said, except one researcher who seems to think that far lower doses of resveratrol might be effective. Here's the quote (emphasis added):
....a research team led by Tomas A. Prolla and Richard Weindruch, of the University of Wisconsin, reports in the journal PLoS One on Wednesday that resveratrol may be effective in mice and people in much lower doses than previously thought necessary. In earlier studies, like Dr. Auwerx’s of mice on treadmills, the animals were fed such large amounts of resveratrol that to gain equivalent dosages people would have to drink more than 100 bottles of red wine a day.
The Wisconsin scientists used a dose on mice equivalent to just 35 bottles a day. But red wine contains many other resveratrol-like compounds that may also be beneficial. Taking these into account, as well as mice’s higher metabolic rate, a mere four, five-ounce glasses of wine “starts getting close” to the amount of resveratrol they found effective, Dr. Weindruch said.
Resveratrol can also be obtained in the form of capsules marketed by several companies. Those made by one company, Longevinex, include extracts of red wine and of a Chinese plant called giant knotweed. The Wisconsin researchers conclude that resveratrol can mimic many of the effects of a caloric-restricted diet “at doses that can readily be achieved in humans.”
The effectiveness of the low doses was not tested directly, however, but with a DNA chip that measures changes in the activity of genes.
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Speaking as someone in the wine retailing business, I wish this stuff would go away. I want to sell wine, not medicine or health food, and I hope to deal with people who are interested principally in the aesthetics rather than the health-giving properties of wine. I have enough discomfort already with discussing the symptoms of sulfite sensitivity...