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So this is why the French live as long as the rest of us (more's the pity)

August 25, 2003 ~ 8:54 a.m.

Speaking of wine vs. beer, per my previous entry, have you heard about this?

It�s a rather long article, but I can sum it up neatly for you. Here�s the upshot:

A naturally occurring chemical present in cool climate red wines has been found by scientists to extend lives.

The chemical, resveratrol, mimics the effect of a low-calorie diet. Biologists have discovered that low-calorie diets extend the lifespan of rodents. If humans respond to resveratrol in the same way that rats and mice do to low-calorie diets, the implications for our obese society could be profound, but in a positive way.

A diet of low caloric intake, biologists believe, triggers a survival instinct present in all animals, including humans, to postpone breeding until conditions improve. To ensure that the animal survives to breed, a longer life for the creature in question is assured until the animal finds a more abundant food source.

Resveratrol is produced by plants in response to stress such as low nutrient supply or pathological infection, and biologists have theorized that animals� bodies may have taken clues from high resveratrol concentrations in plants as an indication of tough times ahead, and the substance has thusly allowed animals to survive times of famine.

The response to resveratrol is centered around a gene called sir2, which studies of yeast strains studied by Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School and his associates, indicate is the mechanism that triggers the low calorie survival response.

If this is the case, and a drug could be developed (as the pharmaceutical company Elixir hopes to do) based on the human form of sirtuin, the enzyme manufactured by the sir2 gene, and approved by countries like the U.S. and U.K., where obesity figures for the general population continue to climb, then perhaps modern man can be spared his inevitable evolutionary fate as a creature of dirigible-like proportions.

In addition to the yeast strains studied by Dr. Sinclair, an associate doctor, Dr. Mark Tatar, tested fruit flies and found that they, too, exhibited a similar life-prolonging response to resveratrol. When asked if he made the switch to drinking red wine only after his research, the scientist responded, �No, I have always preferred red wine to white.�

Scientists also strongly suspect that resveratrol fights cancer.

Cool climate wines contain the highest concentrations of resveratrol. Burgundies contain the highest amounts available in a red wine. The stress factors inherent in grapes growing in a cool climate, as opposed to a more favorable warmer climate, naturally produce more resveratrol.

* * *

Now then (enough with the hard science) �

France�with the exception of the Bordeaux region and the Mediterranean South�is a cool climate, and a wine-producing country. And the French, with their diets of eggs, cheese, veal and other horribly artery-clogging foods, have always presented a paradox to scientists�the so-called �French Paradox.� How on earth do these people tend to live as long as everyone else when their hearts should be imploding by the age of 50? Why, it�s their penchant for red wine, of course. Red wine is quite nearly obligatory with meals in France. The French quaff red wine like practically no other people on earth�and I grant them my whole-hearted respect in this matter, for certainly no other reason exists to admire them�and this explains why, despite their diet, they live as robustly as most other, normally healthy people.

Scientists have known for years that red wine has its fair share of health benefits and that people who drink it in moderation tend to be healthier than those who don�t drink it at all. However, they were hung up on the matter of whether it was the alcohol or some anti-oxidants from dark grape skins that are found in red wine. Now, with the discovery of resveratrol, it is really leading to a definitive analysis on just why drinking red wine is so beneficial.

Naturally, this is good news for me, as I adore the stuff. It may be heavy, and give some people killer headaches, but never me�unless I get hungover on it, but I would have to drink a hell of a lot (say, half a jug of it), and it certainly wouldn�t be any different from any other alcoholic drink in that respect.

And it certainly helps explain why, despite downing more than two bottles of it, per night, in my early 20s, I could still boast a boyish waist. Clearly red wine doesn�t give you the dreaded �beer belly,� and this latest research on red wine explains why, because it helps to kick a major enzyme into famine mode. Thank God I was always a red wine sort of guy. That�s why my waist size is still, to this day, comfortably less than my age!

The more research they do into red wine, the more I like the results. It may mean keeping the French around for longer, but hell � it�s a price I�m willing to pay.

� M.E.M.

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