What is the French
Paradox? The French Paradox is eating a lot of fat without
getting heart disease. Most French people consume large quantities of fat but are relatively free
from heart disease due largely to the red wine they consume.
More and more,
people are learning about the natural health benefits found in red wine
as more studies are published and picked up by the news agencies. Some
scientists say resveratrol, one of red wine's chief antioxidants, is “the Fountain
of Youth.” Resveratrol is being researched extensively by
the medical community.
In
November 2006,
physicians from Harvard Medical School investigating the
French Paradox, published a study in Nature
that demonstrates how resveratrol induces gene repair that mimics
the process occurring in the cell when nourished by a low calorie diet.
According to the researchers, resveratrol acts on the repair gene in our cells by switching it on.
Once on, this repair gene controls cell aging. This process helps to
improve longevity, cardiovascular functioning, and prevent arteries from
becoming clogged by LDL.
Consider
the
reaction by the media to this landmark
study:
"Even
more strikingly, the substance sharply extended the mice’s lifetimes.
Those fed resveratrol along with the high-fat diet died many months
later than the mice on high fat alone, and at the same rate as mice on a
standard healthy diet. They had all the pleasures of gluttony but paid
none of the price." NY Times, Nov 2006.
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"Break out a bottle of wine, folks, to toast the fat but fit mice who
helped scientists link red wine to a possible antidote to
life-shortening effects of obesity." -
By Dan
Vergano, USA TODAY -Nov 2, 2006
