Wine Ingredient May Nix Fat's Effects

[Celebration]

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/129/117334.htm

Nov. 1, 2006 - Drinking red wine may help defend against a fatty diet and help obese people live a longer, healthier life.

A new study shows obese, middle-aged mice fed a fatty diet supplemented with resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, seemed to be spared most of the unhealthy effects of their extra weight and lived longer than those fed the same fat-laden diet without resveratrol.

"After six months, resveratrol essentially prevented most of the negative effects of the high calorie diet in mice," researcher Rafael de Cabo, PhD, of the National Institute on Aging's Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology, Aging, Metabolism, and Nutrition Unit, says in a news release.

Resveratrol is one of a group of antioxidant compounds called polyphenols found in grapes and red wine, as well as in other plants, such as peanuts and blueberries. It has been reported to have anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties and is being studied for a variety of pharmaceutical uses.