The French Way to a Healthy Heart: Red Wine?

There is something called the "French paradox" which relates to why the French are so healthy even though they consume a diet rich in saturated fats.

Scientists now think that it may be because of something called resveratrol in their diet. Certainly not a common household word, resveratrol is a natural component present, but only in very small doses, in grapes, pomegranates; and, yes also in red wine.

Could this account for why the French, who drink red wine with meals as frequently as Americans drink water, are so healthy? Hints that this may be the case come from research published in the June 3rd online edition of Public Library of Science One, where researchers reported that in laboratory studies the addition of small doses of resveratrol to the diets of middle-aged mice seemed to have had a widespread influence on the genetic controls of aging and resulted in distinct protection for the heart.

The study found that when small amounts of resveratrol were added to the diet, the effect was the same as if calories had been reduced in the diet by 20 to 30 percent; that is, lifespan was increased, and the effects of aging were diminished.

Previous research had found that larger quantities of resveratrol added to the diet of mice, who were also given a high-fat diet, had extended their lifespan; but this new study places the possible benefits of resveratrol more into line with quantities that people would actually be likely to ingest in their diets. It also points out that the addition of low doses of resveratrol to diet, beginning in middle age, may be able to elicit many of the same benefits as those achieved by eating a reduced-calorie diet.

Jamie Barger, of Madison-based LifeGen Technologies, and lead author of the study, designed it to, at the genetic level determine what effect the addition resveratrol to diet would have, as opposed to the restriction of calories, in preventing the decline in heart function that is associated with aging.

Heart disease is a major cause of mortality in the United States, but in France, where people traditionally drink a glass of red wine with their meals, heart disease is remarkably low, especially considering their diets are soaked in saturated fats.

The authors suggest that the addition of food, or supplements, or a glass of wine, any of which contain even a small dose of resveratrol, may provide, "a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac aging."

The study is also of importance because it indicates that resveratrol and caloric restriction may both be genetic master pathways which activate many other pathways that control aging.

Quality of life, the study strongly suggests, may be improved with the addition of resveratrol to the diet. Resveratrol may be proven to influence at least one parameter of aging, that is, cardiac function; but to determine if it can extend lifespan in ways similar to that of a caloric restricted diet is fodder for continued research.