Red Wine Component Can Undo Some of the Harm Done by Poor Diet, Researchers Find

AUSTIN, Texas — For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that resveratrol - which is abundantly available in red wine and also found in grapes, peanuts and berries - can ease some of the negative effects on the immune system caused by a diet high in fat. "In preclinical studies, resveratrol has been shown to be beneficial in slowing the aging process and inhibiting some of the deleterious effects linked to obesity," says Christopher Jolly, associate professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin. "However, this is the first study showing resveratrol's effects on the immune system." The study, recently published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry , also suggests that resveratrol helps protect against weight gain resulting from a high-fat diet and that some of the negative effects of obesity on the immune system can be mitigated by increasing resveratrol consumption. The study was conducted in mice whose diet was enriched with resveratrol doses easily obtainable through supplementation in humans. This study indicates there may be some new additional health benefits derived from consuming foods such as berries, nuts or red grapes. Red wine, in moderation, might also carry some of these novel benefits. Additional research is needed to determine the optimum dosages for humans.