A Toast to Resveratrol

Ever since researchers decided that drinking red wine was what allowed the French to eat a high-fat diet and still avoid heart disease, they have been homing in on the rich stew of phytochemicals found in every glass of the vine. Chief among them is resveratrol, a potent antioxidant that seems particularly adept at scavenging free radicals.

Researchers decided early on that resveratrol was the secret ingredient behind the French paradox because of its ability to protect the heart from oxidized fat. And since the brain consists largely of fat and fatty acids, others reasoned that it would need the same protection. In fact, researchers have discovered that Alzheimer’s progresses as an abnormally high level of free radicals—a condition called oxidative stress—kills brain cells.

A study in 2003 demonstrated that resveratrol lowered the level of oxidative stress in brain cells, and two recent studies in the Journal of Biological Chemistry suggest that resveratrol may offer protection from the disease. Alas, neither of these studies suggests that you can ingest enough resveratrol by drinking red wine or by eating any of the natural sources of the flavonoid—grapes, peanuts, and some berries. You can, however, take a standardized extract of resveratrol as a supplement.

—James Keough