Whole Food Nutrition
Resveratrol: Cutting-Edge Technology Available
Today
By Terri Mitchell
Wine. No other beverage has attracted the attention of modern
medicine like this drink. Although it is most widely known for
its benefits for the heart, wine has benefits against cancer,
dementia, and other age-related diseases. Researchers in Denmark
recently looked at 25,000 people to find out what drinking
alcohol does to mortality and discovered that wine drinkers
slash their overall risk of dying from any cause by about
40%.[1]
Chemists took wine apart years ago to find out what makes it
tick. Basically, it contains a host of plant compounds.
Unfortunately, resveratrol and some of the other beneficial
components got shelved as “toxicants,” and nobody paid much
attention to them until a scientist tried to figure out why the
French can eat so much fat and not get heart disease. It turns
out that part of the answer to the “French paradox” is
resveratrol found in red wine.
Resveratrol is naturally created by certain vines, pine
trees, peanuts, grapes, and other plants. One of these plants (Polygonnum
cuspidatum) is an ingredient in traditional Asian medicines that
are prescribed for liver and heart conditions. Resveratrol is
classified as a polyphenol because of its chemical structure.
Polyphenols make up a huge group of plant compounds that are
further broken down into other classifications such as
flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, and the like.
In the early ‘90s, after wine was pinpointed as the probable
answer to the “French paradox,” researchers realized that the
resveratrol content of wine might be the secret ingredient
behind the healthy heart effects attributed to it and the
traditional Asian heart medicines containing Polygonnum.
Research began in earnest, and just over a decade later, the
accolades are enormous: "marked antioxidant activity," "shows
great promise for preventing cardiovascular disease,"
"remarkable inhibitor," "chemotherapeutic, little or no toxic
effects in healthy cells," "high efficacy against multiple
sites." Dozens of studies were published in this past year
alone. Research has uncovered a diverse range of activities that
may make resveratrol
one of the most useful agents ever
discovered for a wide range of human health problems.*
Heart/Blood Vessels and Resveratrol
When researchers deconstruct heart disease, they see many
different things happening at the level of the cell. Cholesterol
and other fat-related substances are one small part of a bigger
picture that involves many other factors. Fortunately, many
facets of heart disease can be controlled through dietary means.
Resveratrol is a dietary agent that has powerful and diverse
effects on the heart and blood vessels.*
The “French paradox” says that a person can eat a lot of fat,
yet not get heart disease. Why? One of the reasons is that the
wine they drink contains resveratrol, which is a powerful
antioxidant. By now, many people have heard that oxidized
low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is a problem in heart disease.
This is why vitamin E helps prevent heart problems—it scavenges
the radicals that oxidize this fat/protein. However, the kind of
radicals that vitamin E blocks are not the only kind of free
radicals people have to worry about. There are other types. In a
study published in Free Radical Research,[2] resveratrol was put
to the test against vitamin E and a synthetic antioxidant. All
three were very good at scavenging artery-damaging radicals, but
resveratrol emerged as the best defense against certain types of
radicals. This points out the importance of using a
multi-approach to antioxidants.*
One of the serious complications of free radical damage is
hardening and thickening of arteries. A “vicious cycle” of
radicals, artery damage, and narrowing due to scar tissue that,
in turn, promotes more free radical activity and more damage,
has been described.[3] Resveratrol, melatonin and Probucol are
suggested as treatments for this progressive process.
Resveratrol’s antioxidant action helps stop free radical damage
and opens the arteries by enhancing nitric oxide.*
Nitric oxide is a critical component of heart/artery
function. It allows blood vessels to “relax,” which enhances
blood flow. In a recent study, a high-cholesterol diet decreased
nitric oxide by about a third.
Resveratrol supplements
significantly reversed the trend.[4] In this respect,
resveratrol is similar to Viagra, which also affects nitric
oxide. However, whereas Viagra only affects small vessels,
resveratrol affects the main arteries.*
Finally, resveratrol also stops the proliferation of cells in
blood vessels that narrow the arteries,[5] and it also keeps
blood cells from sticking together.[6] Both are very important
for preventing heart attacks. The ability of resveratrol to keep
blood cells from sticking together was investigated by Canadian
researchers who wanted to know what role, if any, other
components of wine might play in the process. They found that
ethanol itself inhibited one type of stickiness-promoter
(thrombin), and quercetin (another polyphenol) inhibited a
different one (12-HETE), but nothing else they tested was active
against this aspect of heart disease except resveratrol, which
inhibited not only thrombin, but a host of other
stickiness-promoting factors.[7]*
Alzheimer’s and Resveratrol
It was shown recently that resveratrol possesses a “novel
mechanism” for scavenging radicals.[8]
Might this novel mechanism protect the brain from free
radical-driven diseases like Alzheimer’s?*
Although the research is very preliminary, studies indicate that
resveratrol may be particularly important for those at risk for
Alzheimer’s, or those who have it. It is theorized that free
radicals might initiate the process that leads to the disease.[9]
The brain is composed mostly of fatty acids, and just as the
heart needs to be protected against oxidized fat, so does the
brain.*
Alzheimer’s patients produce an abnormal peptide (a piece of a
protein) known as “beta-amyloid” in their brains. Beta-amyloid
provokes oxidative stress, and eventually cells are killed
because of the abnormally high levels of free radicals. The
killing of brain cells causes the gradual decline in Alzheimer’s
patients. It has been proven that resveratrol can protect the
brain against oxidative stress, and keep cells alive.[9,10]
Research shows that adding vitamins C and/or E to resveratrol
provides a greater degree of brain protection than any of the
antioxidants alone.[11]*
Spinal Cord Injury, Stroke and Resveratrol
A recent study by Chinese researchers is notable.[12]
If confirmed by other researchers, it could be very important
for people who undergo serious brain/spinal trauma or stroke. In
these types of injuries, the body’s response causes further
injury, and for that reason, people are treated with drugs like
cortisone, and in the case of stroke—aspirin. The idea is to
reduce the body’s inflammatory response to the injury.
The study from China showed that resveratrol reversed the signs
of inflammatory response to spinal cord injury on a level
comparable to prednisone (a steroid used to reduce
inflammation), but with better energy compensation and
protection against free radicals, when injected immediately
after injury. Besides helping to ameliorate this type of injury
through free radical blockade, resveratrol actually inhibits
specific enzymes that change the way individual cells respond to
the injury. It’s possible that if a person regularly takes
supplemental resveratrol, they will be more likely to withstand
a stroke or other injury to the brain. This has been
demonstrated in rodents pretreated 21 days with resveratrol.[13]
Less motor damage, and less brain damage occurred post-stroke.*
Cancer and Resveratrol
Cancer is, perhaps, the most dynamic area of resveratrol
research. Resveratrol is the first natural medicinal to have
solid evidence behind it showing that it blocks or stops many
stages of cancer. Resveratrol not only prevents cancer, it’s
being proposed as an additional treatment.[14-16]*
The number of studies has exploded in the past three years, with
the depth of knowledge about this polyphenol increasing with
each report. Resveratrol is a broad-spectrum agent that stops
cancer in many diverse ways, from blocking estrogen and
androgens to modulating genes.[17-20]*
Some of the latest information about it shows that resveratrol
causes a unique type of cell death,[14]
and kills cancer cells whether they do or do not have the tumor
suppressor gene, p53.[21]
It also works whether cancer cells are estrogen
receptor-positive or negative.[18,22]*
In addition to these findings, researchers are beginning to
uncover the ability of resveratrol to augment other
chemotherapies. For example, vitamin D3 converts to a steroid
that inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells. Researchers at
the University of Notre Dame have shown that resveratrol
increases the effects of vitamin D.[23]
Other research shows that it causes drug-resistant non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma cancer cells to become susceptible to chemotherapeutic
drugs (Gemcetabine, Navelbine, cisplatinum, Paclitaxel, and
TRIAL).[14]
Researchers in Austria have done elaborate studies showing that
resveratrol blocks the ability of cancer cells to metastasize to
bone (30-71%).[24]
The highest results were for pancreas, breast, and renal cancer.
Prostate and colon cancers were also inhibited, but not as
much.*
Resveratrol also acts against a component of the Western diet
that promotes cancer cell growth: linoleic acid. Linoleic acid
is converted to arachidonic, which is converted to hormone-like
substances (such as prostaglandin E2 and leukotriene B4) that
can promote inflammatory processes that stimulate cancer cell
growth, among other things. It has been demonstrated that the
Western diet can cause colon cancer in rodents without any other
chemical or factor being necessary.[25]
In a study from Japan, resveratrol in an amount easily obtained
by supplementation, inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells,
and blocked the growth-promoting effects of linoleic acid from
the Western diet.[26]*
Resveratrol works against a wide range of cancers, both at the
preventive and treatment stages. Its ability to stop cancer is
connected to its capability, first, to distinguish a cancer cell
from a normal cell. Unlike chemotherapeutic drugs that affect
normal as well as cancer cells, resveratrol does not damage
healthy cells. Not only is it not harmful to normal cells, it
protects them.[27,28]
Second, resveratrol is sophisticated in its actions. It doesn’t
just scavenge free radicals, it activates and deactivates
critical enzymes and genes, hormones and chemicals.[29-31,14,19]*
Resveratrol Activates a Longevity Gene
In a widely publicized report, researchers at Harvard Medical
School and BIOMOL Research Laboratories have demonstrated that
resveratrol activates a “longevity gene” in yeast that extends
life span by 70%. The effects mimic those of calorie
restriction, the only proven way of extending maximum life span.
Resveratrol activates one of the same “sirtuin (SIR)” genes as
calorie restriction. Although the research has only been done in
yeast, flies and worms so far, humans have their own version of
the same life span-extending gene.*
|
Cancers Inhibited by
Resveratrol According to
Published Research† |
|
Colon
Neuroblastoma
Esophageal
Breast (all types)
Prostate (all types)
Leukemia (various types)
Metastasis to bone
Skin
Pancreas
Ovarian
Melanoma
Liver
Lung
Stomach
Oral
Cervical
Lymphoma (various types)
Thyroid
†In rodents and/or cell culture |
|
|
Resveratrol’s ability to activate the gene has to do with its
chemical structure, not its antioxidant potential. It works by
increasing the rate of a reaction known as “deacetylation.”
Acetylation reactions affect whether a gene is “off” or “on.”
This is extremely important. In cancer cells, for example, genes
are activated that aren’t supposed to be, and vice versa. By
controlling deacetylation, and augmenting the longevity gene,
resveratrol is able to confer some serious life extension
benefits—at least in lower critters. And, yes, acetylation
modulators are being pursued for the treatment of cancer to
restore the normal activation/deactivation of genes in cancer
cells.*
One of the known causes of aging and death is that older cells
lose their ability to perfectly replicate DNA in every new cell.
DNA “mistakes” accumulate and allow little pieces of DNA to
become active and print themselves out, so to speak, creating a
type of “DNA debris” that eventually stops a cell from
functioning. It is similar to printing out a report and having a
couple of pages at the end not contain any relevant
information—so you throw them away. The cell can’t throw away
the extra “printed out” DNA; it accumulates and clogs up the
cell. This build up of “debris” is connected to aging, and the
death of individual cells. Resveratrol reduces the frequency of
“DNA debris” by 60% through the longevity gene that it
stimulates.*
How Much Resveratrol Is In Wine
In order to understand how much resveratrol is in wine, one must
realize that resveratrol is a natural substance made by grapes
and other plants in response to fungal infection. How much
resveratrol is in a glass of wine depends, first, on whether the
grapes were grown organically, and, second, how the wine was
made. Grapes sprayed with pesticides that prevent fungal
infection contain little, if any, resveratrol. Wines grown in
dry climates have less resveratrol than those grown in humid
areas. Red wines contain more than white because of how red wine
is made. The end result of all of this is that organic red wines
from certain areas of Europe contain the highest level of
resveratrol. But most wines contain either no resveratrol at
all, or very little (less than a milligram per glass).
The only sure way to obtain a certain amount of resveratrol
daily is to take a standardized extract. Standardization ensures
a consistent amount of resveratrol with consistent high quality.
The finest resveratrol available comes from Europe. It is made
from organic French grapes known for their high resveratrol
content. The resveratrol is carefully extracted to retain other
compounds (polyphenols) that naturally occur with it. This
pharmaceutical wine extract is then enhanced with resveratrol
extracted from the roots of a medicinal plant (Polygonnum
cuspidatum) used for centuries in Asia for the treatment of
inflammation, heart, blood vessel and liver disease, skin and
lipid problems. The result is a product that retains the active
parts of wine in a natural balance with increased potency and
consistent quality.
The Hidden Dangers of Alcohol
Although red wine has been shown to confer some benefits, it
must be noted that excessive consumption of alcohol can be
dangerous to one’s health.
Alcohol is the most socially acceptable addictive drug that has
life-threatening health hazards. Alcohol consumption is so
ubiquitous that people often don’t realize how dangerous it can
be.
Alcohol is a proven carcinogen, and those who drink have
significantly higher rates of brain, esophageal, liver, breast,
and other cancers.[32]
About one-third of heavy drinkers develop peripheral neuropathy.[33]*
Most people associate drinking alcohol with liver cirrhosis.
Mortality statistics, however, show that increased cancer risk
may be the real concern.*
Smokers generally know that smoking is hazardous to their
health. Yet most people are not aware of how dangerous alcohol
is from a statistical standpoint. Epidemiological studies show
lower heart attack rates amongst those who regularly consume
moderate amounts of alcohol. Yet those same benefits—and
more—may be obtained with polyphenols such as resveratrol, EGCG
(epigallocatechin gallate) from green tea and aspirin.*
Summary
The research on resveratrol is so voluminous that it’s not
possible to cover it in one article. In addition to the benefits
mentioned previously, resveratrol has been tested for its
ability to stop pain,[34]
stop the growth of the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers that
can lead to cancer (Helicobacter pylori),[35]
protect immune cells,[36]
protect DNA,[37]
protect against skin cancer,[38]
and many other conditions. As pointed out earlier, recently
resveratrol became the first-ever supplement known to activate a
longevity gene.
While it is important to point out that a lot of the research on
this wine extract has been done only in test tubes or rodents,
the sheer volume suggests that resveratrol is one of the most
versatile and effective plant compounds discovered so far.
Resveratrol represents a novel solution to many common problems
encountered by aging humans.
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