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An amazing revelation in the scientific world has displayed a substance in red grapes and thus red wine, is attributed to increasing life span. The compound called resveratrol could eliminate the need for harmful anti aging chemical and surgical treatments. For years the French have been unknowingly benefitting from resveratrol, by consuming red wine.

Resveratrol supplements are hastily been manufactured by several pharmaceutical companies. Currently resveratrol studies have only been performed on mice, flies and worms. Worms where shown to have an iincreased life span by 60%, flies by 30% and fish by about 60%.

Dr Rafael de Cabo, from the National Institute of Aging at Harvard Medical School, US said that after six months, resveratrol essentially prevented most of the negative effects of a high calorie diet in mice. In essence the mice who where over eating actually did not damage their life expectancy. They actually increased it.

Other studies have also shown resveratrol to be useful in the battle against cancer and diabetes. It is promising to think that accelerated aging, diabetes and cancer could one day be treated with this natural compound.

Once more nature may have provided the key to another breakthrough in science. Now resveratrol, a phytoalexin in red wine may be the answer to a major threat to every nation, obesity. The mice in the study where fed what is the equivalent to a large section of societies’ actual diets, highly saturated fats. This did not cause them to die sooner.

Another study by the University of Rochester revealed that the natural antioxidant resveratrol can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells from reaching the cell’s core energy sources called mitochondria. As the cancer has nothing to feed on, it therefore cannot grow.

Most supplements on the market are promoted with hype. Resveratrol on the other hand was discovered by accident. The French it seems have been unknowingly increasing their life span for years, albeit by consuming red wine. Even though they consume a diet high in saturated fat, their mortality from heart disease is lower than that of the USA’s.

What does the future hold for resveratrol? Since it’s a naturally occurring product, it’s not going to disappear anywhere fast. So far the tests have been positive. It may not be able to claim the fountain of youth status yet, but one thing resveratrol has got going for it, is that it is a natural compound. That’s something to brag about, especially in an age of Frankenstein science.