Blueberries have gotten a lot of attention for their content of resveretrol, the compound that can turn on genes that favor longevity, but that’s not all that blueberries seem to offer to someone looking to age against the machine. Recent research publishing the Journal of Nutrition has found benefits from blueberries not only for general aging but for control of blood sugar and vascular disease as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Am I Blue? Berry, berry blue.
On September - 29 - 2010Comments Off on Am I Blue? Berry, berry blue.
Resveratrol Update: I’ll Drink to That
On June - 25 - 2010Comments Off on Resveratrol Update: I’ll Drink to That
Resveratrol shows promise as a great anti-aging compound, which is why we’ve talked about it several times. It’s found naturally in red wine as well as grapes and peanuts, and is now available in most vitamin stores as a supplement. However, some experts think it’s very difficult to get enough resveratrol into your system to have any sort of meaningful result. There is new research on resveratrol showing more benefits, and calling into question just how much is beneficial.
Grape Expectations
On May - 12 - 20101 COMMENT
We’ve talked a lot about the benefits of berries and grapes thanks to their high concentrations of resveratrol, a compound that activates longevity chemistry at the cellular level. Researchers at the University of Michigan have been taking a harder look at grapes and found that the benefits may run deeper than just longevity. Read the rest of this entry »
Singing the blues
On January - 27 - 20101 COMMENT
While many researchers have been looking to exotic plants of the tropics and Far East for life extending and enhancing compounds, it turns out that one of the hottest areas for research is a humble fruit native to North America. Cultivated since the 1800s and harvested wild from bogs and forests by Native Americans for centuries, the blueberry has long been known to be loaded with vitamin C and more recently been noted for a variety of other beneficial plant compounds. Blueberries are fairly low calorie and carry a low glycemic load and should be on the shortlist of anyone looking for a healthy snack.
Recent years have seen volumes of research on the compounds in blueberries. Our friends at the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry have published no less than 53 papers in last year on the berry. Topics have been wide ranging, most recently they’ve found some interesting effects on vision and memory. Read the rest of this entry »
Resveratrol and Diabetes
On October - 16 - 20091 COMMENT
Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have done some research on mice with Type II Diabetes. The good news: resveratrol, the same anti-aging compound in grapes and red wine, lowers insulin levels even on a high fat diet. The bad news: because “resveratrol does not cross the blood brain barrier efficiently,”they had to inject resveratrol directly into the brains of those mice to do it. Researchers hope this will lead to the development of resveratrol-like compounds designed to work specifically on the brain.