Resveratrol - The French Paradox and Resveratrol

It doesn't seem that the correlation can be deniedit is humid because of the antioxidants they require
between the amount of saturated fats the Frenchto fight off fungal diseases.
consume, the amount of red wine they consume,It is widely known that in humans, antioxidants stop
and their low incident of heart disease. In fact thethe effects of free radicals, which are damaging cells
French in general have one of the highest fat diets inthat cause aging. The antioxidants in resveratrol
the world, while there are 42% fewer cases of heartprevent damage to the DNA of cells by these free
disease in France than in America. This fact has beenradicals that come from pollution, the sun, and our
known for years and is such an astounding statisticbodies natural process. When enough damage is done
that it was given a name by scientist Dr. Sergeby free radicals, it can speed up aging, cause cancer,
Renaud. He calls it "The French Paradox."and weaken brain function.
Dr. Renaud and other scientists believe that redIt is for this reason that the consumption of red wine
grapes and red wine have an ingredient that explainsand, therefore of resveratrol, is given the credit for
this remarkably lower rate of cardio vascular diseasekeeping cases of heart disease at such a low rate in
and even cancer in not just France, but Italy andthe people of France, even though their diet is so
Spain, all of which are countries that produce andhigh in fat and that a large portion of the French
consume a lot of red wine. This ingredient is calledpopulation smokes.
resveratrol and it is a compound that is the naturalAll this has brought about a proliferation of
by-product of the grape skins during theresveratrol supplements using the extracts of grape
fermentation process. Resveratrol is also found inseeds and Japanese knotweed. In fact Japanese
peanuts and blueberries. It is an antioxidant thatknotweed has the largest natural concentrations of
grapes produce naturally as a protective mechanismresveratrol but very little research to support how
against the ravages of the environment like damagesafe it is. The fact it comes from China puts doubts
from the sun and fungi. That is why wine has higherinto raw goods suppliers because it falls below GMP
levels of resveratrol than most other natural foods.standards used in the United States. Researchers
Red wine has more resveratrol than white wineprefer reveratrol taken from French red wine grape
because the grape skins are left in duringextract and it is in complaince with FDA GMP
fermentation longer than with white grapes. Thisstandards. There are many benefits to taking these
causes the antioxidants to be transferred to thesupplements. For instance, some studies have shown
wine. Grapes that are grown in dry climates do notthat resveratrol can reduce the chance of blood clots
have as much resveratrol as do grapes grown whereand even lower blood sugar level in type 2 diabetics.