How to find reliable information on resveratrol

May 6, 11:53 AMSacramento Nutrition ExaminerAnne Hart

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Why do the French as a nation have lower heart attack and stroke rates than people in the USA? They eat just as much fat. According to nutritional psychologist, Marc David, one theory is that the French custom of relaxed eating triggers the parasympathetic response in the nervous system, resulting in optimal digestion. 1. David also mentions that ritualizing mealtimes leads to weight loss. The French emphasize nutrition-dense, high quality food which helps control overeating.

Nutrition issues that have political implications include the French paradox. Why do the French as a nation have lower heart attack and stroke rates than people in the USA? They eat just as much fat.

According to nutritional psychologist, Marc David, one theory is that the French custom of relaxed eating triggers the parasympathetic response in the nervous system, resulting in optimal digestion. 28.

David also mentions that ritualizing mealtimes leads to weight loss. The French emphasize nutrition-dense, high quality food which helps control overeating. Or could it be that the French have a rather large number of people with type 'O' blood, and type 'O' blood contains a certain enzyme that naturally lowers cholesterol levels when people with type 'O' blood eat fatty meats. This cholesterol-lowering chemical is missing from those with types 'A' and 'AB' blood that respond better to a higher level of raw vegetables and fruits in the diet and less red meat. So what's the connection between the French Paradox and today's consumption of the antioxidant, resveratrol?

One area of study asks whether the French paradox could occur due to the frequency of red wine consumed. What about a similar amount red of wine consumed on a daily basis? Could the paradox be due to the resveratrol found in the red wine that contributes to the health of the French?

Resveratrol is a compound found in the skins of red grapes. Resveratrol also sold in health food stores as a supplement. There’s only a small amount of resveratrol in red wine. You need to find out how much resveratrol is the right amount for you as an individual to consume to be of benefit.

Health food stores currently promote and sell resveratrol as a tablet. It also is known as The French Paradox, and in Chinese medicine as Ko-jo-kon. Originally resveratrol came out of oriental medicine. (Mike Derrida. Ko-jo-kon). The former site for this resource was titled: Natural sources of Resveratrol. 2.  For current information on resveratrol see Resveratrol Information.

In the past, resveratrol was used as a component of Ko-jo-kon, a Chinese medicine used to treat diseases of the blood vessels, heart, and liver. Resveratrol has been promoted for several years as the reason for the "French Paradox" -- the low incidence of heart disease among the French people, who eat a relatively high-fat diet.

The Politics of Antioxidants
Do antioxidants slow aging? The abstract from one article published in 2002, in French, titled: “Antioxidants To Slow Aging, Facts And Perspectives” reports, “Although current data indicate that antioxidants cannot prolong maximal life span, the beneficial impact of antioxidants on various age-related degenerative diseases may forecast an improvement in life span and enhance quality of life."

The abstract further notes, "The current lack of sufficient data does not permit the systematic recommendation of antioxidants. Nevertheless, antioxidant-rich diets with fruit and vegetables should be recommended.” 3

On the other hand, health food retailers and vitamin vendors often generalize in lectures at holistic health fairs that numerous soil studies show that the soil in many areas is too poor to provide enough minerals and vitamins in fruits and vegetables for human minimum daily requirements to maintain good health.

Thousands of health food stores and nutritional supplement manufacturers retailing and wholesaling online also depend upon the sale of antioxidants such as vitamins, powdered grasses, and food products based on assumptions that the soil is too poor to provide the minimum daily requirement of vitamins and minerals required for health maintenance. The political issue arises: why aren’t more studies of soil published in plain language?

Is it true that the soil is too poor anywhere on Earth to grow vegetables and fruits containing high-quality vitamins and minerals? Or do studies of minerals and contaminants in soil focus on specific areas of the globe? What the public needs in plain language are definitions and nutrient values of health foods. 4

Nutrition education is a political issue that currently is focused more on childhood obesity and less on the quality or merits of, contaminants in, or absorption of vitamins, minerals, and nutritional supplements (nutraceuticals). Has any average consumer actually read reports on soil sampling?

Political issues in nutrition require research in environmental publications. Consumers need to understand how to apply the results of studies to make logical decisions and choices about what to eat and when to supplement.

Studies are ongoing. Political issues focus on how the average person can best put together a healthy diet without sacrificing pleasurable eating experiences. For further research, an excellent Web site is Harvard School of Public Health’s The Nutrition Source.  Also click on the Nutrition Source at this site.

What the average consumer needs is an online database, resource, or  list of notes to check the facts and flaws of studies mentioned or summarized in the mass media about what  research and trials on nutrition really mean. Such a list of notes also could be put in a print publication or saved on a disc as well as be available online as an updated database. Also see the book, The Imperative of Health: public health and the regulated body.

The field of nutrition is wide enough to encompass not only physicians, registered dieticians, and nutritional genomics professionals, but also psychologists and counselors specializing in the psychology of eating. What areas many scientists are now studying in nutrition also focus on the effects on health of ethnic diets.

Diets being studied also include the southern Mediterranean diet that is rich in extra virgin olive oil. Types of olive oil are being researched for their effects on health. Spanish olive oil is recommended as best by numerous nutritionists. Some nutritionists are researching whether the French paradox may also be due to the quality of the abundant fruits and vegetables or fresh fish in the diet. A modified Mediterranean diet includes olive oil, fish, vegetables, fruits, and foods containing resveratrol.

1. Marc David. May 2005. The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy & Weight Loss. Healing Arts Press.

2. Mike Derrida. Ko-jo-kon. (former web site): Natural sources of Resveratrol. For current information on resveratrol see  Resveratrol Information. 

3. Bonnefoy M, Drai J, Kostka T. “Antioxidants To Slow Aging, Facts And Perspectives.” Presse Med. Jul 27; 31(25):1174-84, 2002. (French.)

4. Stare, F.J., Hegsted, D.M., Mayer, J., Geyer, R.P., Gershoff, S.N., Herrara, M.G., McGandy R.B., Kerr, G.R. and Antoniades, H.N. Health Foods: Définitions And Nutrient Values. Journal of Nutrition Education. 47(3): 94-97. 1972.