Studie: Resveratrol improves metabolic function in obese men

The 11 participants in a Dutch study were obese but otherwise healthy men, who served as their own control group. A participant who took a placebo supplement for 30 days would wait a month and then take a resveratrol supplement for 30 days. Another who took resveratrol first would get a placebo after a month's "wash-out" period. The 150-milligram dose given to the men was actually much smaller, pound for pound, than doses routinely given to mice in past experiments, yet yielded similar blood concentrations of the plant extract. Alzheimer's disease researcher Philippe Marambaut of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Long Island, N.Y., called the findings "very promising."


The study, conducted in the Netherlands and published this week in the journal Cell Metabolism, found that men taking 150 milligrams of resveratrol daily for 30 days looked for all the world as if they were either dieting successfully or were engaged in endurance training. (That dose is about the equivalent of the resveratrol in 100 glasses of red wine, so don't pull that cork just yet.)


Marambaut, who was not involved in the current study, said the beneficial metabolic effects appeared "impressive," and added that "they will certainly motivate additional clinical trials for other conditions associated with a deregulated metabolism, such as diabetes or some age-related neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's disease." Source: Los Angeles Times