Resveratrol Health Benefits: What Does the Research Say?

Guest Post by John Fawkes

This next guest post includes an awesome assemblage of research on a confusing health topic--the sort of post Crabby has given up even trying to write since she got so lazy busy.  So yay for that! And for those of us who enjoy red wine and cheerfully rationalize our consumption on health grounds, it might be interesting to discover if the purported benefits of resveratrol are real or bogus.  So please welcome John Fawkes, about whom you can learn more at the end of the post.  He's got an entertaining blog of his own and you may want to think about visiting him there!--Crabby

Is Resveratrol just an excuse to get drunk, or will it turn you into the highlander?

Resveratrol. By now, you’ve probably read about five different articles about how it might just allow us to turn back the clock on aging, so we can live long enough to see the first Mars colony. You’ve probably read about how it can cure cancer, burn fat, build muscle, and make you smarter. Or maybe you’ve just heard about it from some wine snob you know, bragging about how damn healthy he is while getting drunk on a bottle of 2002 Douchenozzle Reserve.

Resveratrol is a chemical produced by a variety of plants as an immune response against fungi, but the highest concentrations are found in the skins of wine grapes, and by extension, in red wine. It naturally occurs in two forms, cis-resveratrol and trans-resveratrol, with trans-resveratrol being the bioactive form that produces all of the alleged health benefits. A glass of red wine might contain anywhere from .15 to 1.5 mg of trans-resveratrol per glass.

For a while in the 2000’s, it really looked like resveratrol was some kind of miracle drug. Every year, a few more studies would come out demonstrating benefits to longevity, cardiovascular fitness, and brain health. But then two funny things happened.

Wine Not? A "Happy Hour" Workout Video Packed full of Antioxidants!

Posted by Crabby McSlacker

This guest video was prepared for us by special request by Kim over at Day With KT (with help from her awesome and talented son the videographer). And yeah, I'm posting it first thing in the morning, sorry, but somewhere in the world it's gotta be happy hour, right?

We are all big fans here of Kim's blog, which is not only fun and inspiring, but contains great exercise videos. She's got all kinds of moves to help you mix up your workout, but each video is short and simple--though not necessarily easy. (In fact, many of the moves are hella hard, which makes sense because Kim runs ultra marathons between meals like we might mosey into the kitchen to get a snack, and I believe she can bench press grand pianos and dead lift freight cars and she wrestles grizzly bears and killer whales just for her post-cardio cool-down.)

Anyway, in figuring out how I could exploit her talents over here at Cranky Fitness, it occurred to me that like Crabby, Kim is a fan of a nice glass of wine in the evenings. Yet unlike Crabby, she has a respectable blog.

And thus a workout video idea was born!

Do not fear, there is no blaring soundtrack as is the case with many workout videos. It's all quite civilized.  (But note: if you are in recovery and trying to avoid triggery reminders, you may wanna skip this one).

Otherwise, enjoy! --Crabby

Random Friday: Beverages, Blow-ups and Bar Graphs

[Posted by Crabby]

Hmm, Which One is Crabby?

Yes, it's been a while since a Random Friday, but don't worry--it's still just as dopey as ever. Merry is taking some well-deserved time off, thereby lowering the standards of the blog. Pray for her speedy return!

Let's start with a little bit of science, shall we?

Gay Brains:
A brain scan study of gay and hetero brains found surprising differences--with gay men and straight women sharing some characteristics that differed from straight men and lesbians. These were "in the area of the brain responsible for emotion, mood and anxiety." The brains of straight guys and lesbians "were slightly asymmetric with the right hemisphere slightly larger than the left," while gay male and straight female brains were not. And the amygdala (the "fight-or-flight" area) was wired in a similar fashion in gay men/heterosexual women vs gay gals/straight men.

(Note to self: learn better bar-fighting skills and how best to avoid crying at sad movies. Or at least find out why I was apparently issued the wrong model of brain at birth. Consider visiting Healthbolt to take the "what sex is your brain" test).


More Good News on the Beverage Front:
At least if you enjoy coffee and/or red wine.

For java junkies, especially the gals: A new coffee study found that women who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had an 18% reduction in death from all causes compared to non-coffee-drinkers. But what about 4-5 cups a day, that can't be good, right? Well ha ha ha! The women who drank that much had a 26% reduction in risk. (However, the risk reduction in men was small enough it could have been due to chance).

And as for the health benefits of red wine? Well, as you may recall, previous research had shown that an ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, extended longevity in mice. But these studies were done with high doses, which is a problematic if you're trying to generalize to humans, given the obvious inadvisability of guzzling several cases of merlot every night. However, this new research was done with much lower doses, implying that even modest amounts of resveratrol can "can elicit many of the same benefits as a reduced-calorie diet," including "a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac aging."

Cheers!

Losing Your Cool:
Do you have kids on sports teams? Does it ever drive you crazy to go to their games and watch obnoxious parents behave like complete assh*les and spoil everything? Well, you may want to visit Juicebox Mom at Just Here for the Snacks and print off some copies of her handy and humorous guide: Parents--How to Behave on the Sidelines.

And speaking of Complete Obnoxiousness, this awesome video has been around the net for a while (and there is now a musical version). But for those who haven't seen the vintage Bill O'Reilly meltdown, it is worth watching a World-Class Prick Professional performing at the peak of his powers.



(And O'Reilly has plenty of company, if you want to see a compilation of similar on-camera temper tantrums).

How Much is Too Much?
Here at Cranky Fitness we can't really be accused of "overdoing it" when it comes to rigorous exercise. Nor are we overzealous when it comes to nutrition or personal development or anything else that requires sustained effort. However, some of you out there are quite dedicated and motivated! You may sometimes run into the problem of Doing Too Much.

Are you overdoing it on your exercise routine? Charlotte over at The Great Fitness Experiment has an insightful post on over-training, (and a great follow-up too) that could be a valuable intervention for anyone easily seduced by a "More is Better" approach to fitness. Sometimes more is NOT better.

And similarly, Semi-Charmed Wife asks a lot of good questions about the constant quest for self-improvement and whether it's always healthy. (She doesn't presume to have the answers, either, which is refreshing).

Random Internet Wanderings:

Did you know that the Lolcat people have spawned yet another user-generated humor site that can assist you in avoiding work for hours? Well, it's true, damn it. It's especially suited for people obsessed with popular song lyrics and charts and graphs and such.



plenty more at the graphjam site.


And another cool thing? There are cartoons on the web! Who knew?

Comic courtesy of xkcd

Have a great Friday, folks!

Really, Really, Random Friday

nataliedee.com

What's that thing flying around up there? No idea! Crabby just liked it, so what the hell.

And in that "what the hell" spirit, lets get going with another Random Friday!

Pain Relief--But Hide The Ben & Jerry's
So marijuana is apparently an effective pain reliever, but dosage is important. A little doesn't do much, but a moderate amount worked to ease pain after about 45 minutes. But whoa, dude, not too much! 'High' dosages of the drug actually increased the amount of pain felt by stoned volunteers. (And Crabby was pleased to discover that the pot/pain study took place at the Center for Medical Cannabis Research at her very own Alma Mater, UCSD).

Stop Messing With Us: To D or Not to D?
There have been several recent studies suggesting that vitamin D levels can influence one's risk of getting cancer. As a result, experts have been suggesting we get more of the vitamin whether from a little bit of sunshine, eating the right foods, or taking a supplement. So it's something of a disappointment to read that in a large cancer study (following 17,000 volunteers for a decade) there didn't seem to be any relationship between vitamin D blood levels and cancer occurrence at all--except for colon cancer. Is this the last word? Well, perhaps not, as Vitamin D levels were only taken once for each person, and are known to fluctuate a great deal.

Phytochemical Supplements: What's the Deal?
And file this next pair of studies, too, in the "C'mon Scientists, Make Up Your Freakin' Minds Already" folder: the two following articles were sitting right next to each other over at Science Daily. The first one, entitled "High Doses Of Phytochemicals, Including Flavanoids, In Teas And Supplements Could Be Unhealthy" warns about the dangers of supplementing with phytochemicals. Apparently high doses can be toxic. The second article, "Chemical In Red Wine, Fruits And Vegetables May Stop Cancer, Heart Disease, Depending On The Dose," suggests that the best way to prevent cancer might be to supplement with high doses of phytochemicals, since the amounts naturally found in foods are okay but More would be Way Better. (To be fair, they were talking about Future Not-Yet Invented Supplements, which would of course be safe).

Of course Crabby realizes that (1) these two conclusions are not mutually exclusive and (2) nutrition and disease prevention are complicated matters, and it takes a long time and a lot of studies to sort it out.

But darn it, all these apparent inconsistencies make it hard for lazy bloggers like Crabby! How can she sum up her nutritional recommendations into Simple Snappy Headlines if the data just doesn't play along? She hates to mess around with detail and nuance and uncertainty. Perhaps she will just say Screw it and recommend Cupcake Supplementation instead.

Good News for Nappers!
"A nap today may be beneficial for mental processing tomorrow." And according to this study, not only might you get cognitive improvements from your midday snooze lasting clear into the next day, a nap apparently won't keep you from conking out at night either. However the study involved "normal sleepers" sixty years of age or older. Which is somewhat confusing in that the article starts off by saying that "people over age 60 sleep two hours less per night than their younger counterparts."

Red Wine Headaches? Here's An Easy Sol... Oh Hell, Never Mind.
Some folks react strongly to "biogenic amines" which can hide in red wine and other fermented, aged, or pickled foods (like chocolate, cheese, olives, nuts and cured meats). These nasty amines can cause unpleasant symptoms like headaches, high blood pressure, heart palpitations and elevated adrenaline levels. However, there's help on the way! A new gadget invented by U. C. Berkeley researchers can detect nasty amines so you can stay well away from foods that contain them. This all sounded quite handy until Crabby got to this part of the article: "The prototype — the size of a small briefcase — uses a drop of wine to determine amine levels in five minutes..."

Yeah, make sure you bring that with you on your next dinner date.

So Enough About Health Already, it's Friday!

Kid Sex Change?
Visit this blog for an amusing compilation of Unfortunate Company Logos, Names, Signs, and Slogans, most of which are at least vaguely obscene.

And Healthbolt ran this picture a while ago, but it cracked Crabby up so she'll go ahead and swipe it herself:




But What About Animals That Exercise?

Funny you should ask... Sure, we got 'em! Try these photos or this video if you need your weekly fix. And have a great weekend!

Yoga and Wine: Together at Last?

Cranky Fitness has been alerted to a surprising new development: did you know you could combine yoga practice with wine tasting? Crabby sure didn't!

The New York Times was on it many months ago (registration might be required), but Crabby missed the boat and needed a nudge from the helpful vital juice folks, who emailed to let her know about it. Apparently there is not just one venue, but several, that offer both activities together.

On hearing this, Crabby was at first confused. How can you sip wine if you're standing on your head? Or what if you're bent over at the waist, or crouched on all fours, or flat on your back? Crabby is capable of dribbling wine down her front when seated upright at a table in a nice restaurant. How on earth could people do their tastings during yoga class?

But then Crabby realized: Oh. Probably they both don't mean at the exact same time. Probably they mean do the yoga first--then taste the wine.

Got it now! You go on a retreat or to a workshop that features both yoga and wine tasting, but not simultaneously.

Still. Do they belong together?

Crabby has lots of opinions. Problem is, her opinions totally contradict each other. Perhaps she needs to do a sun salutation or pour herself a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and meditate further on what it all means. Or, better yet, she may have to ask her Smart Readers what to think.

So please help Crabby sort this out. Here were some of her first impressions:

1. Smart marketing! Lots of people like both wine and yoga, and many of these folks have $$$ to spend on retreats.

2. How crass! Yoga isn't just an exercise, it's part of a spiritual practice. What's next--Yoga retreats combined with tummy tucks? Or with seminars on "How to Profit from Real Estate Foreclosure Sales?"

3. But most people don't do yoga as a religion. They do it for exercise. Why should they have to get all picky about what they combine it with?

4. So what if "most people" only dabble? You shouldn't subvert the deeper nature of the practice by treating it as some consumer product to exploit.

5. "Deeper nature?" What do you know about the "deeper nature" of yoga? You've never even been to a yoga class!

6. Well, I saw a video once. Some nice pony-tailed man with a cute British accent kept talking about his "sit bone." Anyway, it still seems kind of cynical. I bet most real yoga people would object.

7. So they can stay home! Think about it--gentle stretching and mellow people and wine? What's not to like?

8. Hmm. Would there be, like, a really nice restaurant? And a spa with deep tissue massage?

9. Sure!

10. What was the question again?

Please help the bewildered Crab.

Yoga + Wine Tasting. Yes? No? Maybe?