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Fat drunk mice
Eating lots of fat and drinking lots of wine aren’t activities that are usually associated with a healthy lifestyle.
But a new study by the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging shows that heavy does of red wine extract lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other fat-related illnesses in mice – even when those mice were obese.
In fact, fat-related deaths dropped 31 percent in fat mice that were fed supplements of resveratrol, compared to untreated fat mice. The treated mice actually lived as long as slim, healthy mice.
Resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes, peanuts and some berries, and is produced when plants are under stress.
“If we’re right about this, it would mean you could have the benefit of restricting calories without having to feel hungry,” the study’s lead author David Sinclair told the Associated Press. “It’s the Holy Grail of aging research.”
The fat mice treated with resveratrol also were as agile and active on exercise equipment as their more svelte counterparts, indicating a quality of life higher than that enjoyed by the average fat mouse.
“That’s cool,” said Steve Briar. “Does it work with beer? If I could eat junk food, and drink beer, and still be healthy, I’d be happy.”
Sorry, Steve.
Researchers involved in the study admitted it’s still too early to celebrate by eating lots of fat and getting drunk (beer doesn’t contain the resveratrol that’s in red wine, either), and that further research is needed to determine if the results will be the same in humans.
(The mice were given enough resveratrol to equal 100 bottles of wine a day for an adult human. Some people may not have a problem with that, but most of us would probably be hard-pressed to drink that much wine, even if we liked the stuff.)
National Institute of Aging director Richard Hodes also cautioned against people taking non-regulated resveratrol supplements because safety issues haven’t been adequately addressed yet.
But researchers did say that the aging institute is considering a repeat of the experiment with rhesus monkeys, after having success with resveratrol on yeast, worms, fruit flies, and now, mice.
But what about jazz musicians?
“All good things in moderation,” said Arthur White, NSU Jazz Studies director. “People have been talking about the medicinal properties of wine for years.”
And as for fat?
“I just spent the weekend in West Virginia, doing Master classes and clinics. I’ve been eating pizza and hot dogs, and I feel great!” White said.
Linda Axley, administrator for the health departments in Cherokee, Mayes, and Adair counties, said the study is interesting, but folks probably shouldn’t modify an already-healthy lifestyle in hopes of gaining the same benefits the fat mice seem to have received from resveratrol.
“You never know what research is going to turn up,” Axley said. “Things we thought were healthy 20 years ago have turned out not to be so healthy, and things we thought were unhealthy turn out to be healthy. But the results of that study still have yet to be replicated in humans.”
According to Briar, the results might at least take some of the stress off of people who feel guilty about having unhealthy diets.
“I think it’s the stress of worrying about being unhealthy that kills you,” he said. “Not so much the diet.”
(Although he added that, not being a scientist, he has yet to prove that theory.)
Or, as White put it: “The occasional chili-dog is not going to kill me.”
