COPD, Non Food Source of Resveratrol, Obesity, Diabetes And Kidney Failure, And More....

Welcome back to my blog which highlights the research done on the natural product resveratrol , a compound extracted from certain fruits and nuts (that reminds me of an old California joke where I grew up). There has been considerable research on resveratrol with 3972 articles published on resveratrol in medical journals as of April 19, 2011. The studies continue to use mostly lab animals or cell cultures but this month there is another human study, sort of. Any of these articles can be viewed directly by going on www.pubmed.com and search by topic or citation. I hope the following will help you appreciate the potential health benefits of resveratrol .

1. COPD From the University of Cologne, Germany comes a paper on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. This is a common lung disorder mostly among people with a history of smoking. This is the “sort of” human study. Lung cells were taken from living smokers, ex-smokers, and never smokers. In many people, steroids do not help with acute flare-ups of COPD but are used anyway because there is not much else that works any better. Steroids, like prednisone, are not without side effects and complications, especiall if used long term (weeks or months). In this study the lung cells of the 3 groups were each divided in half. Half of each was exposed to resveratrol and the other half to a steroid. All were then treated with a bacterial toxin. The steroid group showed more reaction to the toxin than the resveratrol , indicating that resveratrol could be a safe and effective alternative for lung inflammation in a COPD patient. (Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol, Mar 29, 2011)

2. Non-food source of resveratrol State University of New York, Buffalo At this time there is promising research on developing a strain of bacteria that will produce diesel fuel (bio-diesel) as a by-product. Similarly there is research on developing a strain of bacteria in New York and Germany which will produce resveratrol , which ideally make producers less dependent on natural sources such as fruits and nuts. Now that goal is a hope and a dream. If it works, no one knows if the end result would be worse than, same as, or better than the product of Mother Nature. There is the possibility of an alternative source of resveratrol in the future. (Appl Environ Microbiol Mar 25, 2011)

3. Obesity Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea (where I was a visiting professor 1989-1990) A group of rats was divided into a resveratrol treated group, and a placebo treated group. They were all fed a high fat diet. The resveratrol group had 48% less weight gain and 58% less fat pad weight gain, and a lower increase in the rise in cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar. The paper went on to discuss the various chemical pathways that caused these results. Whatever the reason, the results are definitely encouraging. Keep in mind we are not recommending resveratrol in order to partake in your own personal high fat diet experiment. There was still weight gain and fat pad weight gain in the resveratrol rats. (Biochem Pharmacol Mar 31, 2011)

4. Diabetes and kidney failure Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in progression of kidney damage in diabetics with high blood sugars. A group of diabetic rats was given a chemical that causes kidney damage. Half that group was fed resveratrol and the other a placebo. In the resveratrol group there was a significant normalization of kidney function. The mechanism was that there is a kidney protective effect by the anti-oxidant resveratrol in reducing the oxidative stress in the kidneys resulting from high blood sugars. (Biochim Biophys Acta Mar 23, 2011)

5. Liver protection From Serampore College, West Bengal, India comes a paper that affects only a small number of people but I found it interesting. In people with high fever or heat injuries such as sunstroke and heat exhaustion, there is liver damage. Again, rats volunteered and were subjected to high temperatures. Then half the rats were given resveratrol and the other half nothing. The resveratrol group had a dramatic improvement in liver function with rapid recovery. Resveratrol appears to be “an effective antidote in the ttreatment of heat induced(liver) malfunction”. (Toxicol Mech Methods Mar 23, 2011)

6. Heat stability From the University of Split in Croatia looked at the heat stability of resveratrol . For those of you who want to get their resveratrol from red wine and not just Shaklee’s Vivix, a studt was done where red wine was heated to boiling until all of the alcohol was cooked off. Then it was colled, and the vasodilation effect was measured and compared with the effect of unheated resveratrol . There was no difference. This means resveratrol is heat stable and can be used for cooking, and may not be heat resistant during storage and shipping. (J Cardiovasc Pharmacol Mar 17, 2011)

I hope you get some benefit from these reviews. I am constantly hearing about this one small corner in the overall work of medical research. All of this is encouraging in the use of resveratrol for a variety of health conditions, or just for prevention and wellness. Until next time, Dr. Bob

CANCER, DIABETES, MENSTRAL CRAMPS, AND MORE

The following articles have been published in medical journals around the world. They are about the anti-oxidant, anti-inflamatory neuroprotective, cardioprotective ingredient of the vegetable world called resveratrol. It offers many health benefits for many people. Keep in mind that Shaklee's resveratrol in the form of Vivix is ten times as powerful as other resveratrol products on the market. Remember, most research is done with animals and in test tubes. In this issue, we have an article on human subjects. We continue to receive personal success stories which are anecdotal but in such a large number, I can't help but be impressed. Let's look at a few recently published articles.

1. Testing: From the University of Jaen in Spain comes a report on a new spectrofluorimetric method of measuring the content of resveratrol in any sample. It is quicker and cheaper than anything that exists now. To me, this means that we can measure the amount of resveratrol in the raw ingredients prior to formulation to make the most powerful product. (Anal Chim Acta 18 Mar 2011)

2. Cancer: From the University of Nebraska is an article on cancer. Some people have high levels of something called estrogen-DNA adducts which are a result of the unbalanced metabolism of estrogen. Yes, men have small amounts of estrogens as do women have small amounts of testosterone. In this a study on people with higher levels of estrogen-DNA adducts, these levels can be lowered by specific anti-oxidants, one of which is resveratrol. Women at high risk for breast cancer or diagnosed with breast cancer, men with prostate cancer, and men with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma would benefit from lowering of this adduct. Vivix offers a natural and safe way to achieve this goal. (J Steroid Biochem, Mol Biol 9 Mar 2011)

3. New Source: From Monash University in the "land that wastes nothing" comes a report of a new source of resveratrol. Most v comes from fruits such as grapes and blueberries. In Australia they were able to extract resveratrol from peanut press waste. That would be the goo left over from making peanut butter. While there is not a lot of resveratrol per pound, the source is free and earth-friendly. Well done mate. (J Agric Food Chem 10 Mar 2011)

4. Diabetes: From the University of Pecs in Hungary comes a human study on diabetics. Resveratrol has improved the control of blood sugar in a variety of lab animals. In this study a group of diabetic people was divided into a group on resveratrol and a group who were not. In a four week study, before and after the second and fourth week, insulin resistance and sensitivity were measured. After the forth week, the resveratrol group had a significant decrease in insulin resistance. This is the first study showing that resveratrol improves insulin sensitivity in humans. This may be due to a resveratrol induced anti-oxidant affect that leads to a more efficient insulin signaling. (Br J Nutr 9 Mar 2011)

5. Another source: From Belgium (think New Belgium Fat Tire) comes a study showing that grapes and red wine are not the only source of resveratrol. Resveratrol is present in red sorghum and is also in beer made with red sorghum as its grain source. This is good news for beer afficianados, but the amount of resveratrol is much less less than in Shaklee Vivix. (J Agric Food Chem 7 Mar 2011)

6. Menstrual cramps: Taiwan published a paper on uterine contraction in rats. While this may not be of interest to many people, it holds the promise of more comfortable periods for many women. Chinese medicine focuses more on natural and herbal treatments than western medicine. This is the first article looking at the effect of resveratrol on uterine smooth muscle. Rats, half of which were treated with resveratrol and the other half not, were "separated" from their uteri (rat hysterectomy) and subjected to a drug that causes muscle contractions of the uterus (cramps). The resveratrol treated rat uteri had much less contraction than the non-treated. It is a far stretch to say that V or Vivix would help with menstrual cramps, but it will be years before human research catches up with animal studies. It would only take one or two months to find out if Vivix would decrease the severity of menstrual cramps. If it helps, that's great. If it does not, the money-back guarantee is still there. (Endocrinology 1 Mar 2011)

I hope at least some of this is of interest to you. More next time, and I will try to be more productive. Until next time.

Dr. Bob

WOMEN'S HEALTH, PROSTATE CANCER, ARTHRITIS, OBESITY AND MORE

Have you heard the saying that if you want a good worker, look for someone who is already busy? It has been too long since my last blog, so I wait until the busiest time of the year to put this out. And speaking of the time of year, I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas. I also wish for each of you. As a reminder, this blog is about research published in medical journals on resveratrol. If you wish to do your own research, go to www.pubmed.com.

1. Women's health was the subject of this paper. Note that it was published almost 10 years ago. There are a variety of changes the female body goes through after menopause and one way to prevent or deal with them is hormonal replacement therapy. Unfortunately the more popular replacement therapies are associated with potential side effects and complications such as blood clots, strokes, and gallbladder disease, as well as endometrial, uterine, and breast cancers. This study showed that "resveratrol supplementation may be an alternative conventional hormone replacement therapy for cardioprotection and osteoporosis prevention and may confer other potential health benefits in women." (Drugs Exp Clin Res, 2001 233-48)

2. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Early detection and treatment which uses multiple modalities result in more successful treatment and fewer cancer deaths. This paper is looking at prostate cell cultures, cancer cells growing in a glass dish. One treatment is using hormone therapy. The problem with hormonal therapy is that eventually the treatment no longer works as the cancder cells become hormonally resistant. Built into every cell is a message that tells the cell when to die (apoptosis). Resveratrol tells the cancer cells to die early. This has the potential of helping prostate cancer patients who are responding responding to hormonal therapy or not. (Anticancer Res Sept 2007)

3. Arthritis is a common problem that all adults suffer from sooner or later. It is called osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease. In this study from Turkey, half of a group of rabbits was put on resveratrol and the other not. They all then had a had a toxic substance injected into their knees which damages cartilage, simulating arthritis. The group on resveratrol had significantly less joint damage. This has the potential of decreasing arthritis in all of us. (Inflammation Apr 2007)

4. Obesity is associated with a variety of other health issues such as arthritis, diabetes, elevated cholesterol or triglycerides or free fatty acids, and low insulin levels (diabetes). A group of obese Zucker rats was given resveratrol and they had a decrease in the blood fats and an improvement in blood sugars. Resveratrol has the possibility of helping diabetics both in sugar control and elevated blood fats. (Biochem Pharmacol Dec 2008)

Remember, Shaklee's resveratrol, vivix, is ten times as potent as other products out there. Here is to your health.

Dr Bob