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How the world got lost on
the road to an anti-aging pill
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May 27, 2013: by Bill Sardi
Well, that is oft repeated statement by mindless biologists who don’t really delve into this matter. Technically they are correct. Resveratrol is fully metabolized (taken out of action) after it has made a few passes through the liver (a process that can be delayed by taking quercetin with resveratrol). Liver metabolism involves coupling resveratrol with detoxification molecules (sulfate, glucuronate) produced in the liver. Resveratrol is then too large a molecule coupled to a carrier protein to pass through cells walls and influence genetic machinery inside cells. However, an enzyme (glucuronidase) that is abundant at sites of inflammation, infection and malignancy unlocks resveratrol at the right time and place, freeing it to switch genes and act as an important copper-binding antioxidant. The very fact resveratrol produces systemic-wide biological effects in compartmentalized organs such as the brain, heart, kidneys, suggests it is biologically active, even passing the blood-brain barrier.
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May 2, 2013: by Bill Sardi
The anticipation builds for anti-cancer drugs that target a broad array of genes that combat various types of cancer in different organs rather than a different drug for each cancer by their anatomical origin. Instead of anti-cancer drugs for each organ, such as lung, prostate, breast and colon, geneticists now say new drugs in development may address many forms of cancer.
The first examples of this new thinking are studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing uterine cancer and leukemia have similar genetic fingerprints and could be treated by the same drug. A large effort to this end is being commandeered at the Cancer Genome Atlas website.
However, the thinking is far too narrow now that geneticists know diseases are integrated via gene networks. An online map can be viewed showing genes in many diseases overlap one another (note: it takes time to load).
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April 21, 2013: by Bill Sardi
While there has been much talk about Sirtuin-1 as the survival gene that is activated by life-prolonging calorie restriction, researchers report that Sirtuin-3 gene protein activates a protective internal antioxidant known as SOD-2 (superoxide dismutase-2) which in turn rejuvenates blood stem cells. It was previously thought that DNA damage to old blood stem cells is irreversible, but this aging process (DNA damage) was reversed when Sirtuin-3 gene protein is produced. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that can turn into heart, brain, muscle, nerve or other types of cells and are needed for repair of damaged cells and tissues.
The red wine molecule resveratrol is known to activate the Sirtuin-3 gene. Longevinex, a branded resveratrol dietary supplement, has been shown to increase Sirtuin-3 gene protein 295% greater than plain resveratrol. Read the abstract of the report below.
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April 12, 2013: by Bill Sardi
In a landmark study, researchers have linked elevated blood-serum iron levels with shorter end caps (telomeres) on chromosomes. Shorter telomere length is associated with increased incidence of age-related disease and mortality. Telomere length has emerged as a marker for biological aging and is associated with shorter lifespan.
The results of this study may also help explain why telomere length is determined by gender as women have lower iron levels throughout most of life due to menstrual losses and are reported to have longer telomeres and a longer lifespan than males.
This study also points to interventions such as blood-letting and dietary avoidance of iron-rich foods to maintain telomeres and prolong human lifespan.
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April 9, 2013: by Bill Sardi
European researchers report high-dose pure synthetic resveratrol produced no measurable benefit among healthy obese males over a 4-week trial. It may be another nail in the coffin for resveratrol, but health journalist and resveratrol-pill formulator Bill Sardi says he thinks he knows why the study was a flop.
Certainly the world has been waiting for resveratrol to live up to its promise as a molecular mimic of a limited calorie diet. In the animal laboratory, 40-50% reduction of calorie intake among warm-blood mammals about doubles their healthy lifespan. Could this happen for humans? The science has been mixed so far. Sardi says he knows why.
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April 2, 2013: by ResveratrolNews
There is no question about it – Big Pharma and its minions of researchers are attempting to develop resveratrol analogs (look-alike molecules) that will garner billions in sales as a resveratrol-like drug. The objective of the game is to patent a molecule that is alleged to exceed the biological activity of a natural molecule like resveratrol.
Some of the specific objectives are to improve resveratrol’s antioxidant activity, improve its anti-inflammatory properties, elevate its anti-viral activity, produce higher blood serum concentrations and greater stability, and increase its cancer cell-killing effect, etc. Patents are being filed on improved resveratrol-like molecules.
But at the same time is Big Pharma attempting to disparage and subjugate resveratrol as a third-class molecule?
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March 26, 2013: by Bill Sardi
Reply to Bill Gifford’s demand (New Republic online) for a red wine pill to materialize that lives up to its calling as a molecular mimic of a calorie-restricted diet to reliably produce unprecedented prolongation of the human healthspan as well as achieve maximum lifespan.
Bill Gifford, writing online for the New Republic, asks “Where’s My Red Wine Pill?” in the wake of confusing headlines which recently said the quest for an anti-aging pill is back on track now that a Harvard scientist has re-confirmed resveratrol (rez-vair-a-trol) targets the Sirtuin-1 survival gene and that a 150-year lifespan may soon be common.
The confusion emanates from the many incongruent facts that surround this scientific re-discovery, the most prominent being the European drug company that purchased a developmental red wine pill company located near Boston is now shutting its U.S.-based operation down — an announcement that followed the gene-target breakthrough by just a few days.
Of course, connecting the dots may be difficult for some, but not for all, especially those longevity seekers who have been following this pharmacological shell game for some time now.
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March 25, 2013: by ResveratrolNews
Tune in to a radio Interview with Bill Sardi, talking about the prospect of a red wine longevity pill, with David Stouder on KEST-San Francisco radio.
Bill Sardi talks about his first encounter in 2003 with a Harvard professor who claimed to have discovered a red wine molecule that activates a key gene also activated by a limited-calorie diet which doubles the lifespan of laboratory animals. That’s where the story begins, but not where it ends. Listen here:
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March 4, 2013: by Bill Sardi
[Antagonizing effect of resveratrol on the lipid peroxidative damage induced by lead in mice].
Liu F, Xue Z, Zhang N, Wang W, Chen C, Li W.
Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2012 Nov;41(6):920-4. Chinese.
Natural polyphenols may ameliorate damage induced by copper overload.
Arnal N, Tacconi de Alaniz MJ, Marra CA.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2012 Feb;50(2):415-22. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2011.10.037. Epub 2011 Oct 19.
PMID: 22036966 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
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February 11, 2013: by Bill Sardi
Biotechnologist Dr. Bruce Bryan emails to say his grandmother, who lived to 109 years of age, in good health most of the way, because he gave her 5 milligrams of deprenyl every morning.
Deprenyl (selegiline) is a drug that was developed in the 1960s for its anti-depressant effects (it is a monoamine oxidase MAO enzyme inhibitor) and is now primarily prescribed for Parkinson’s disease sufferers (trade names Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar, Azilect). It is surprising to learn that deprenyl (selegiline) is a molecule similar to methamphetamine, an illicit street drug, but is not psycho-active nor does it create addiction.
In the mid-1990s animal experiments revealed deprenyl prolongs life, first demonstrated in rodents and then dogs. It also was discovered that Deprenyl not only inhibited MAO but it worked in the brain by increasing the activity of internal (endogenous) antioxidant enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD). However, deprenyl doesn’t activate glutathione like resveratrol does.
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