Thursday, June 05, 2008

Red Wine: the fountain of youth?


"Red wine may be much more potent than was thought in extending human lifespan, researchers say in a new report that is likely to give impetus to the rapidly growing search for longevity drugs," according to an article in the Herald-Tribune.

Serious scientists have long derided the idea of life-extending elixirs, but the door has now been opened to drugs that exploit an ancient biological survival mechanism, that of switching the body's resources from fertility to tissue maintenance.

A promising recent study is based on dosing mice with resveratrol, an ingredient of red wines. "Some scientists are already taking resveratrol in capsule form, but others believe it is far too early to take the drug, especially using wine as its source, until there is better data on its safety and effectiveness."
In my own research on the subject, conducted over the last 30+ years, I would have to concur that red wine's salubrious effects on the homo sapien have been largely underestimated, if not outright ignored.
---o0o---

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