From Morning Edition, NPR, 11.15.07
Red wine grapes contain a component called resveratrol. Several research studies published last year found that mice that were fed this component lived longer. Since then sales of red wine supplements has grown more that 300 percent, according to NPR. The article Red Wine Pills: Buyer Beware, by Allison Aubrey, looks into these supplements:
Since there's no official recommended dose for resveratrol and no government regulation of the supplement, distributors are free to sell and say just about anything about their products. The Food and Drug Administration doesn't step in unless there are reports of harm.
There are intriguing findings in the animal studies of resveratrol, showing the compound has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. "The challenge is, of course, that we don't have any good clinical trials — in other words, human trials," says Dr. Brent Bauer, who specializes in alternative and complementary medicine at the Mayo Clinic.
Read and listen to the article on NPR: Red Wine Pills: Buyer Beware
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