According to a recent article by Emily Singer, a chemical found in red wine can mimic the life-extending effect of calorie-restricted diets in yeast, researchers have found. The founding could provide a new explanation for beneficial effects of red wine. And the replication of the results in mammals- although still a long way off-would raise hopes that the compound could one day be used to slow age-related diseases in humans.
"seventy years ago, we found that caloric restriction in rats increased life span. And over the last 70 years people have been looking for the way to explain it" says the lead researcher David Sinclair at the Harvard Medical School in the US. "Now we have shown we can control the longevity pathway with a small molecule."
The compound is a polyphenol called resveratrol, and is found in grapes. previous research has shown it can protect against heart disease in humans, but whether the life extending properties it shown on yeast will extend to mammals is unknown. "It's long way from yeast to humans' says David Finkelstein at US National Institute on Aging in Washington D C. "But it points the way to go."
