Drink Red Wine and Toast Dieting Goodbye

• Saturday November 4, 2006 in: Diet and Exercise Tag(s):

  Technorati Tags: diet, health

  That would apparently be the case, if a new study on the effects of red wine on health is to be believed. It sure had that effect on the mice used in the experiments.

  According to a Seattle Times report, the new study conducted by a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging has discovered that a compound found in red wine called resveratrol protected the subject mice from the effects of an unhealthy, high-calorie and high-fat diet.

  A substance found in red wine protected mice from the ill effects of obesity, raising the tantalizing prospect that the compound could do the same for humans and may also help people live longer, healthier lives, researchers reported Wednesday.

  The substance, called resveratrol, enabled mice that were fed a high-calorie, high-fat diet to live active lives despite becoming obese - the first time any compound has been shown to do that. Tests found it activated genes that protect against the effects of aging, essentially neutralizing the harmful effects of a bad diet on the animals' health and life span.

  This sounds too good to be true, but scientific evidence seems to point that way. Imagine going on a food binge and washing all your "sins" away with a bottle of red wine. What's more, the study also says that heavy doses of resveratrol lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other ill effects.

  However, the study is not yet totally accepted as medical fact, because much work still needs to be done to determine the safety and benefits of resveratrol. But should that day come, expect people to line up at McDonald's and super-size everything.