Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
Here’s one for you that was discussed at a seminar I recently attended in Atlanta. Researchers of Harvard Medical School in Boston recently published an article in the journal Nature. This article was actually published on November 2, 2006. The article references a research study that was done on a compound found in red wine and in grapes. It was found that this compound extended the lifespan on obese mice. The compound was noted to “help them enjoy a healthier old age.” The compound called “Reveratrol” allowed the mice to live longer than other overweight mice and reduced the negative health effects of eating a high calorie diet.
Interestingly, Reveratrol also had the same effect on yeast, flies and worms. The question is, does it work the same in mammals? According to the lead researcher, David Sinclair, “It is possible to find a molecule that activates the body’s natural defenses against aging. You can use it to enhance the health of a mouse or mammal. That is unprecedented.” He added that this study is proof of the principle that it works in mammals. This researcher feels that the goal is within the next few years to treat diseases in man with this substance.
We know that restricting calories and decreasing overall weight will prolong life. These researchers feel this substance will mimic the beneficial effects of eating less “without the hassle of dieting.”
In this study, by the time the mice were 114 weeks old, 58% in the high calorie diet group had died, compared with 42% in the other groups. “After six months, “Reveratrol” essentially prevented most of the negative effects of the higher calorie diet in mice.” So far, and this study is ongoing, the life span of these obese m ice has been extended by 10 – 20%.
According to Sinclair, “there is no question that we are seeing increased longevity. Not only was survival rate increased, there was a reduction in the negative effects of being obese, since these mice lived as long as the lean mice. They also had a healthier heart, liver tissue, decreased blood sugar levels, better insulin sensitivity, and were more active.”
That’s all interesting news for individuals who have been brought up in the take-a-pill-for-every-condition-era, but here’s the plain and simple truth of what is actually occurring here. Once again, we are looking for a pill to compensate for our evils ways. Overeating and obesity is the number one health concern in the United States today.
In the United States, obesity is the direct cause of death for 300,000 people annually. 25% of the people in North America do zero exercise. Today, our average life expectancy is 77 years; however, only 64 of those years are functional. The remaining 13 are debilitating, downhill years relative to our overall health and well-being. The sad truth is that today obesity costs our healthcare system 90 billion dollars per year, that’s 9.4% of our healthcare expenditures in the United States.
The researchers studying the effects of this new wonder compound focused on one specific healthcare issues that being obesity. There are others which this compound will not necessary help and which this study did not study, specifically those involving joint health and arthritic change. Unfortunately a portion of the health care costs I just outlined to you, annually in the United States are due to the effects of weight on the joints of the body. Anyone who has suffered from any form of arthritic change can understand how debilitating this component can be. This is just one of the many, many aspects of obesity which has not been addressed by this study. And for those of you who feel that you can get your Reveratrol by drinking red wine on a regular basis, understand that in order to get the amount of this compound into your body that these researchers used in this study, you would literally have to drink hundreds and hundreds of glasses per day, which obviously would have significant detrimental effects on your body. Therefore, the jury is still out on this one, but don’t be surprised if in the next several years you see information coming out about a new wonder drug for obese individuals in this country. We’ll wait and see, but my prediction is you will. Let’s also see what the side effects are of this new wonder drug.
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