To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [NAFEX] Substance in red wine found to combat obesity, diabetes
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2006 12:07:29 -0600
Substance in red wine found to combat obesity, diabetes
Rob Stein, Washington Post
Friday, November 17, 2006
A component of red wine recently shown to help laboratory mice live
longer also protects animals from obesity and diabetes, researchers
reported Thursday.
The new research helps confirm and extend the possible benefits of
the substance, resveratrol, and offers new insight into how it works
-- apparently by revving up the metabolism to make muscles burn more
energy and work more efficiently. Mice fed large doses could run
twice as far as normal.
In addition, the scientists produced evidence for the first time
linking the biological pathway activated by the substance to humans,
showing that the same genetic switch that resveratrol mimics seems to
naturally endow some people with faster metabolisms.
"It's very exciting," said Johan Auwerx, professor of medicine at the
Institute for Genetics and Cellular and Molecular Biology in
Strasbourg, France, who led the research, which is being published in
the journal Cell. "This compound could have many applications --
treating obesity and diabetes, improving human endurance, helping the
frail. There's a lot of potential."