This is getting ridiculous:
A drug already shown to reverse the effects of obesity in mice and make them live longer has now been shown to increase their endurance as well.
[…] An ordinary laboratory mouse will run one kilometer on a treadmill before collapsing from exhaustion. But mice given resveratrol, a minor component of red wine and other foods, run twice as far. They also have energy-charged muscles and a reduced heart rate, just as trained athletes do, according to an article published online in Cell by Johan Auwerx and colleagues at the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France.
“Resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training,” Dr. Auwerx (pronounced OH-wer-ix) said in an interview.
Let’s recap – the demonstrated effects of resveratrol include cancer resistance, prolonged lifespan, mitigating diabetes and other effects of morbid obesity, fighting diseases both inherited, acquired and infectious and now it can make you a champion athlete without training. Plus it has no toxic effects at any concentration yet measured. Ye gods. The FDA has not yet classified resveratrol as a drug so numerous manufacturers offer it as a nutritional supplement, with all the attendant upsides and downsides. For example herbal supplements often contain little to no of what they advertise plus shocking quantities of contaminants and heavy metals. That’s right libertarians, the FDA does serve a purpose.
Dr. David Sinclair, the Harvard researcher who discovered resveratrol, recommends the brand Longevinex for reasons that have to do with the compound’s instability in the presence of oxygen. Alternatively Longevinex might have offered the most lucrative sponsorship package. Update: yes to the former story, no to the latter. As with everything on the unregulated market, caveat emptor.
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If you plan to get resveratrol the natural way, even if the dosage is a bit low, try the Menage a Trois red, a blend of Zin, Merlot and Cab Franc from the Folie a Deux winery in St. Helena, CA. Buttery smooth, a touch of spice and an aftertaste that reminded me of chocolate. It has that goes-with-anything character that makes Merlot a hit in America but with a pleasant depth of character from the blend. Buy it not long before you plan to drink it since the flipside of buttery smoothness is very little tannins or acidity.
***Update***
You probably want to know more about resveratrol. Read the rest of my coverage here. Read about obesity and diabetes here, or skim the multitudinous sources at Wikipedia.
***Update 2***
Gazillions of good resveratrol references here.