{"id":672,"date":"2014-06-10T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chaneyhealth.com\/healthtips\/?p=672"},"modified":"2014-05-27T00:01:18","modified_gmt":"2014-05-27T04:01:18","slug":"are-benefits-of-resveratrol-a-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chaneyhealth.com\/healthtips\/are-benefits-of-resveratrol-a-myth\/","title":{"rendered":"Are The Benefits Of Resveratrol A Myth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is Resveratrol Dead?<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Red<\/a>It seems like just a few years ago that the headlines were proclaiming that resveratrol, a polyphenol found in red wines, grapes and chocolate, was the latest \u201csuper nutrient\u201d. It was going to make you younger, smarter and healthier. You probably knew that all of the claims being made at the time could not be true.<\/p>\n

But the latest headlines are claiming that resveratrol health benefits are all a myth. Has the resveratrol bubble burst? Was it all just hype?<\/p>\n

Before you decide that resveratrol supplements are just a waste of money, let me take you behind the scenes and evaluate the latest study objectively. Let\u2019s talk about what it showed, and didn\u2019t show. But, before we look at the study, let\u2019s review the history of resveratrol.<\/p>\n

How Did The Resveratrol Story Get Started?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The resveratrol story started in the 1990\u2019s when Dr. Serge Renaud at Bordeaux University coined the term \u201cFrench Paradox\u201d to describe the fact that cardiovascular disease incidence was relatively low in the French population despite the fact that they consumed diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol.<\/p>\n

People immediately started asking what could possibly explain this discrepancy between the US and French populations? In other words, what could be protecting the French population from their high fat diet? One obviously difference between the French and Americans is that the French consume a lot more red wine \u2013 or at least they did before the \u201cFrench Paradox\u201d publicity turned red wine into a health food. Based on that difference, Dr. Renaud proposed that the French Paradox was due to the high red wine consumption in France.<\/p>\n

But, red wine is an alcoholic beverage and overconsumption of alcoholic beverages is a major health problem for many people. And, while alcohol does have some cardiovascular benefits, alcohol consumption was pretty constant across countries.<\/p>\n

So the next logical question was what other ingredients in red wine might explain their supposed health benefits. Polyphenols appear to have numerous health benefits, and resveratrol is the major polyphenol in red wine. So resveratrol became the \u201cposter child\u201d for the health benefits of red wine.<\/p>\n

Even so, for years resveratrol was a \u201cniche\u201d supplement. It had a loyal following, but it wasn\u2019t a big player in the nutritional supplement market. All that changed in 2009. Dr. David Sinclair at Harvard University had been studying genes that slow the aging process. He had screened thousands of naturally occurring small molecules in hopes of finding some that could turn on those anti-aging genes.<\/p>\n

He announced that resveratrol and a few related polyphenols were the most potent activators of those anti-aging genes, and he went on to publish studies showing that resveratrol could help obese mice live longer and lean mice be healthier. All of a sudden resveratrol became a superstar.<\/p>\n

But, does resveratrol also work in humans? There are many clinical studies that suggest it does. That\u2019s why I was surprised by the recent headlines proclaiming that the supposed health benefits of resveratrol were myths. So once again, let\u2019s look at the study behind the headlines.<\/p>\n

Are The Benefits Of Resveratrol a Myth?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The study behind the headlines (Semba et al, JAMA Internal Medicine, doi: 10.1001\/jamainternalmed.2014.1582) followed 783 men and women aged 65 years or older from the Chianti region of Italy for 9 years. None of the participants were taking resveratrol supplements. The investigators estimated resveratrol intake by measuring the concentrations of resveratrol metabolites in the urine.<\/p>\n

The investigators measured all cause mortality and the prevalence of heart disease and cancer over the 9 year period and found no correlation between those outcomes and urinary resveratrol metabolites. From those data the authors concluded that \u201cResveratrol levels achieved with a Western diet did not have a substantial influence on health status or mortality risk of the population in this study.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Strengths And Weaknesses of The Study<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

There are really two important questions – what are the strengths and weaknesses of the study and what does the study actually show?<\/p>\n

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the study?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n