Resveratrol – an aging decelerator - VitaBasix

Resveratrol – an
aging decelerator
Stay young longer with
the red-wine medicine

Resveratrol – an
aging decelerator
Stay young longer with
the red-wine medicine

Resveratrol – an aging decelerator
Stay young longer with the red-wine medicine
Table of contents
Part 1: Wine as a universal medicine
The grapevine – a plant
with healing substances............. 6
Enzymes and a
juice from wild grapes .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Sensation of warmth,
even euphoria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
«Hands of the gods». ............. 10
Noah was a wine grower .. . . . . . . . . . 11
Grape presses in the Nile valley.. . . . . 12
The first food supplements.......... 14
Drinking contests and ecstasy ....... 15
Asclepius and alcohol. ............ 16
Painkiller, soporific, cordial. ........ 16
The world empire of alcohol......... 17
Wine of the Christians .. . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Part 2: The red-wine phenomenon
The French paradox.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The birth of red-wine medicine. ..... 21
Abstinence is a risk.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Live five years longer.............. 23
Wine and science.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
More than alcohol. ............... 25
The potential of polyphenols......... 26
Radicals killer
from the berry .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Increased fat burning.............. 28
Healthier bones .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Two glasses for the man,
one for the woman ................ 30
Resveratrol & Co.................. 31
White wine or red wine .. . . . . . . . . . . 32
Phytoalexines: The self-medication
of plants........................ 32
The whole is more
than the sum of its parts .. . . . . . . . . . 33
Quercetin – anti-inflammatory.. . . . . . 34
OPC – protective.................. 35
Catechins – antimicrobial.. . . . . . . . . . 36
A traditional remedy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Color alone won’t cut it. ........... 37
What else can it do............... 38
For men and women. ............. 40
Anti-aging in the laboratory. ....... 40
Dementia prophylaxis. ............ 41
Anticancer agent from red wine.. . . . . 42
Calorie restriction................. 44
Resveratrol – an aging decelerator.. . . 46
A place in history................. 47
Capsules instead of glasses .. . . . . . . . 48
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Published by Anti Aging News Inc.
Copyright © 2009, Anti Aging News Inc.

Part 1: Wine as a universal medicine
The grapevine – a plant
with healing substances
It is due to a unique substance that today red wine has
come to be on almost everyone’s lips for its invigorating
character; this substance is called resveratrol. Among the
approximately 400,000 phytosubstances by which plants
control and protect their lives in wild nature, the molecules
of this phenol seem to possess by far the greatest
number of effects that are ideally suited to the human
body. But let’s begin at the beginning.
Phytotherapy is as old as human history. Maybe everything
began with herbs being put on a wound. From time immemorial,
people have thought up remedies in order to defend
themselves against pain, disease and death to the best of
their ability. They searched the treasure chest of nature for
6 7
the necessary means, looking for them in plants, stones,
and animals. Humans were close to nature, in direct interchange
with other beings, and better able to glean secrets
from their environment than we are today. Their senses
were wide awake, their memory was sharp, as the art of
writing had not been invented yet. And the so-called theory
of transmission explains how they came to learn the rest:
Whatever was detected at one place became the common
knowledge of all humankind after a long time. This was
also true for the astonishing facts people knew about wine.
Enzymes and a juice
from wild grapes
It may be assumed that early humans appreciated the
consumption of wild grapes already more than 600,000
years ago. Grape seeds of the wild vine vitis sylvestris
were found in settlements dating back as far as the New
Stone Age. At some point in time, vagrant hunters and
gatherers began to take the juice of wild grapes along on

Maybe reluctantly, maybe out of curiosity, it was drunk
nevertheless. The ethanol – more commonly known by
the name of «alcohol» – probably had a peculiar effect
on the senses of the drinkers. We do not know what that
effect was. It depends on the alcohol concentration in the
blood. The times of the drinking orgies held in honor of
the Greek wine god Dionysus were still far away, but it
is conceivable that a liter of fermented grape juice did
flow down a throat or two. With a body weight of, say,
60 kilograms, these early drinkers possibly achieved a
BAC level of 0.1 and more, right at the first try, going
through the following stages: sensation of warmth, chattiness
(up to 0.05 BAC), prolonged reaction time (up to
0.1 BAC) and disinhibition and euphoria (0.1 BAC and
over). Where that happened Presumably in the Middle
East. Maybe in Mesopotamia, today’s Iraqi lowland.
There and in some areas of what later became the countheir
exploits, in hoses made from animal intestines. They
appreciated it as a tasty staple food rich in energy. And
then it probably happened for the first time: the grape
juice went off! They already knew this effect from honey
solutions – after all, bees were more widely known than
vines in the early times of humankind. But it was only
in the 18 th century that the Swedish doctor and scientist
Carl von Linné found out that this was due to a process
And then it probably happened for the
first time: the grape juice went off!
of fermentation and putrefaction caused by microscopic
organisms, presumably enzymes of the saccharomyces
cerevisiae yeast species. In any case, a natural yeast
fungus with proliferating cells which can be found on the
skins converted the fructose of the grapes to ethanol and
carbon dioxide. The potion formed little bubbles, became
cloudy and probably appeared barely drinkable.
8 9
Sensation of warmth,
even euphoria

tries of Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, archeologists
discovered considerable accumulations of grape seeds.
This is interpreted as the beginning of wine production.
«Hands of the gods»
The oldest examples of such evidence date back to the
transition from the 9 th to the 8 th millennium before the
birth of Christ. Presumably, the wild vine was cultivated
between the Caucasus and the Hindukush, and findings
of seeds document that it was first grown in the southeast
of the Caucasian region of Georgia by approx. 4,000
before Christ, at the latest.
A Greek physician would, later, generally refer to plantbased
medicines as «hands of the gods», and nothing fits
this designation better than the fermented juice of the
grapes. In all great cultures, wine was regarded as the
drink of the gods, was drunk in veneration and sacrificed
to the gods.
10 11
Noah was a wine grower
The practice of healing has always been a factor in human
communities. It is based on holy knowledge which
was revealed to religious men only. For thousands of
years, humans have been searching for natural substances
with medicinal effects. Many of these were tested
empirically. As the evolution of humankind progressed,
primordial medicine also rose to higher levels in some
places of the world: first in the region around Euphrates
and Tigris, and then also in the wide plains of the Nile
river and along the Chinese Hwangho. A new social class
evolved as the guardians and keepers of that knowledge:
the priests. They increasingly combined cultic and
medicinal duties. Wine is mentioned already in the most
ancient records. Hammurabi, tribal prince of the Sumerians,
who led Babylon to glory in the 2 nd millennium
B. C. remarked in a code of laws, «Wine is among the
most precious gifts of Earth. Thus, it demands love and
respect, we have to hold it in esteem.» In the Hebrews’
First Book of Moses, Noah is called a wine grower.

Grape presses in the Nile valley
In ancient Egypt, viniculture was practiced with the kind
of dedication that is shown by a devoted gardener. Wild
wines never grew there. Grafted vines were imported
from Jordan. They were planted in wooden containers
and placed in the landscape, like columns. Boys would
scare away birds by banging stones together. Wine from
Thebes was praised for its sweetness. Tomb paintings
show interesting traditional techniques of processing.
Originally, the grapes were filled into a long hose the end
of which was horizontally fixed to a post. At the front
end, three slaves would turn a wooden staff and press
out the juice that flowed into a receptacle.
Grape stomping was also invented in the upper Nile
valley: bare-footed men suspended from the ceiling with
the help of ropes squeezed the grapes in a huge trough.
The partly fermented juice was left to mature in amphoras,
often for years. Later, spices or honey were added.
Often, these containers were stamped with the name of
12 13
the pharaoh, the year he governed, information concerning
the variety of wine, the vineyard and the vintner.
The partly fermented juice was left to
mature in amphoras, often for years.
Later, spices or honey were added.
Almost the entire calendar of ancient Egypt was dedicated
to feasts celebrated in honor of the gods or to thank
them for the gift of life. Tombs were decorated with
scenes of banquets; for example, the tomb of Djeserkaraseneb
shows a female guest saying, «Give me eighteen
cups of wine, for I want to drink until drunkenness, my
inside is like straw.»

The first food
supplements
Only recently, archeologists discovered
jars of wine containing substances from
medicinal plants, tree resins, and further
phytosubstances. They show that such
additives were selected for medicinal
purposes as early as one and a half millennia
before the first written records,
around 3,300 before the birth of Christ.
Phytotherapy was a pillar of Egyptian
medicine, as is evidenced by the pharmacological
papyrus Ebers, which contains a
number of descriptions and recipes. Five
different wines were required for the rites
performed in connection with the journey
into the realm of the dead. Egyptian healers
were aware of the effects that plantbased
substances had, especially if their
14 15
alkaloids were dissolved in an alcoholic medium. Their
knowledge had an impact on the way wine was dealt
with in the entire Mediterranean area.
Drinking contests and ecstasy
The Greeks selected Dionysus, their god of ecstasy and
fertility, to whom the grapevine and ivy were sacred, as
the central figure of their frenzied cultic feasts. These
culminated in pithoigia, the opening of the wine casks,
which involved drinking contests with serious consequences.
Through Alexander the Great, religious movements
originating from this cult spread as far as India.
At the meetings of men enthused by philosophy, the
symposia, the consumption of wine was an absolutely
necessary element which lent wings to the mind as we
know from the testimony of Plato or Socrates.

Asclepius and alcohol
The idea to use fermented grape juice and its additives as
a therapy flourished in the era of Greek healers. Doctors
practiced their art under the patronage of a god who is
still known today, at least by his symbol, the holy animal
of the snake: Asclepius. Celebrations and drinking in his
honor took place in more than 200 healing places.
Painkiller, soporific, cordial
Medical schools dedicated to Asclepius propagated his
medicine. The most famous of these schools was situated
on Kos, an island planted with vines. In the temple
of this school, a young physician from the noble family
of the Hippocrates (in English: horse tamers) took
the famous oath. He taught the physicians of his time
to steer the right path between old tradition and new
knowledge – sufficient reason to call him the father of
medi cine. «First, do no harm!» and «Nature heals, the
physician is nature’s assistant» were among his first
principles. He relieved the sick body and stimulated its
healing power by administering expertly-devised food
and beverages. He gave wine as a sedative, as a soporific,
against pain and as a cordial – a precursor of the
treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
The world empire of alcohol
The Romans got the best Greek physicians for their
soldiers and gladiators, and they also adopted the Greek
wine god, whom they called Bacchus. Injuries were disinfected
with anti-inflammatory wine. The drink of the
gods was rationed out to Roman legionnaires primarily
as a substance providing gastrointestinal protection.
Gaius Julius Cesar required his soldiers to drink three
liters of diluted wine every day during military campaigns.
Presumably, the huge expansion of the Roman
Empire could not have been achieved without this
antibacterial effect. The most important physician of the
16 17

Roman Empire, Galenus, used different wines: heavy
sweet ones against fever, wines with pronounced acidity
for more appetite, and wines rich in tannin against
hemorrhage.
Gaius Julius Cesar required his soldiers
to drink three liters of diluted wine every
day during military campaigns.
From a starting point presumably situated in the
region between the Caucasus and the Hindukush, the
cult of wine spread in all directions. Even in faraway
China, skilled healers made use of the effects of ethanol.
They fermented the juices and phytosubstances of
grapes, rice or millet to obtain alcoholic essences. The
Chinese sign for «medicine» even includes the symbol
for wine.
Wine of the Christians
The New Testament describes how Jesus turned water
into wine at the wedding of Cana, and in the narrative
of the Last Supper wine is equated with His blood. After
having been elected Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger referred to himself as a simple, humble, worker
in the vineyard of the Lord. It was a long tradition
continued: In the Middle Ages, Christian monasteries ran
the only hospitals and at the same time were viticultural
centers. Monks discovered the production of red wine
by leaving the grape mash, i. e., the crushed skins and
seeds, with the most for up to 4 weeks.
Two thousand years after Hippocrates, fermented grape
juice was regarded as the most important remedy for
healthy and sick persons alike. And nobody had even
mentioned terms like «phenols» or «resveratrol» as yet.
18 19

Part 2: The red-wine phenomenon
The French paradox
In 1819, an Irish physician by the name of Samuel
Black observed a phenomenon: In the south of France,
cardiac infarctions occurred rather rarely although
the local diet was rather rich in fat. More than one
and a half centuries passed until a scientist from the
University of Bordeaux, professor Dr. Serge Renaud,
2000 years after Hippocrates, fermented grape
juice was regarded as the most important
remedy for healthy and sick persons alike.
astonished the world with precisely this contradiction,
which he referred to as the «French paradox». In
1978, Dr. Renaud had started to scrutinize more than
36,000 healthy men in respect of their wine intake in
20 21
the French city of Nancy. After many years of evaluating
a host of data he found out the following: For those
who treated themselves to approximately two glasses
a day, the probability of suffering fatal heart disease
was reduced by half as compared to non-drinkers. Only
four times that quantity would cancel out this protective
effect. In 1991, the popular US television program «60
Minutes» invited him to their studio, broadcasting his
report under the catchy title «Drink Like The French,
Die Like The French».
The birth of red-wine medicine
Dr. Renaud shocked and fascinated the audience at
the same time: Compared to an American, an average
Frenchman consumed four times as much butter, 60 %
more cheese, and three times the quantity of pork. In
the age group of 35 to 74 years, the number of fatal
cardiac infarctions per 100,000 inhabitants was 118
in the US but only 83 in France at the time. Soon he
was confronted with the argument that even more wine

was consumed in Luxemburg or Hungary, for instance.
Dr. Renaud presented his explanation of this puzzle: It
is the high consumption of red wine that matters and,
what is more, very specific substances which, maybe,
are not contained in every variety.
Abstinence is a risk
«Red wine» was a new headword for the scientific community,
while enthusiasm for wine for medical purposes
in general was nothing new. Since the beginning of
the 20 th century, the connection between alcohol intake
and health has been the subject matter of hundreds of
serious scientific investigations. Practically all results
substantiate that drinking wine and other alcoholic
beverages in moderation causes protective effects. They
promote longevity and wellbeing. However, none of this
research differentiated between white and red wine.
Live five years longer
The following is a sober
statement, although it
is about alcohol: «The
life expectancy of men
who consumed wine was
approximately 5 years
longer, compared to that of
men who abstained from
alcoholic beverages.»
The men in question were
from the Dutch town of
Zutphen, 1,373 of them,
born there between 1900
and 1920. As from their
very high
high
increased
risk
reduced
low
Alcohol and the healthy heart
Total mortality
Cardiac infarction
never light moderate heavy excessive
Alcohol consumption
Source: Dr. Bernd Kleine-Gunk
50 th birthdays until today, scientists have been recording the life circumstances of each
of them, including their diet, beverages and diseases. The data are evaluated once a
year, most recently in April 2009.
22 23

Wine and science
Some results: With a quantity of 20 grams of alcohol per
day, which corresponds approximately to one glass of
wine, both the incidence of vascular diseases of the brain
and heart as a cause of death and mortality for any other
medical reason were shown to be significantly reduced.
Enjoying only about half a glass a day primarily reduces
the number of fatal outcomes of heart disease. But there
are also fewer deaths from other causes.
The answer to the question of how this heart protection
can be accounted for soon became undisputed:
Alcohol is vessel-friendly and increases the production
of «good» HDL cholesterol, it reduces hypertension and
the risk of thrombosis, it neutralizes the blood coagulation
that is taking place continuously and improves
the blood flow. In doing so, it considerably reduces the
probability of an amputation. On the other hand, alcohol
is the only ingredient of wine that can do damage in
large quantities.
24 25
More than alcohol
But the intoxicating component of alcoholic beverages
represents just some of the potential derived from the
berry of the grapevine, the ingredients of which had
been researched most thoroughly by then. Most of these
are polyphenols, from various groups. Polyphenols are
natural substances with a dietetic effect which trigger
certain biological effects after ingestion. Generally, scientific
authors say this about polyphenols: «The occurrence
of large quantities is associated with various favorable
health effects.» First and foremost, this refers to their
anti-inflammatory capacity.
Enjoying only about half a glass a
day primarily reduces the number
of fatal outcomes of heart disease.

The potential of polyphenols
The most impressive elements of this group are the
flavonoids. They are generally called antioxidants. Much
more intensively than vitamins C and E, they eliminate
oxidative stress – cell injury caused by aggressive oxygen
molecules – in the human body. The dreaded oxidation
destroys essential components of the cells, including
membranes and DNA. These processes result primarily
in neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. As
the antioxidants of wine intervene everywhere in the
body, the protective effect extends far beyond the cardiac
region.
Radicals killer from the berry
Some 4,000 substances identified to date, originating
from a most diverse range of medicinal plants, vegetables
or kinds of fruit, can cause favorable effects in the
human body in this way. They have the ability to hunt
free, unbound oxygen molecules. Aggressive oxygen
molecules develop quite naturally while the body
consumes oxygen. Factors such as smoking, radiation
(from PCs for instance), chemical substances and excessive
stress reinforce their production. Such oxygens
promote the oxidation of LDL cholesterol in the vessels.
They must continually be eliminated from myriads of
cells in order to maintain healthy metabolic processes.
Polyphenol antioxidants neutralize these dangerous
molecules.
This seems to prevent, to a certain degree, some of
the most insidious conditions, including heart attacks,
stroke, eye complaints, Alzheimer’s and other intelligence
defects that are based on organic brain damage.
This also includes some cancers, presumably because of
the antibacterial effects. Even individual aging processes
seem to be slowed down by antioxidants.
26 27

Increased fat burning
For this reason, there is huge interest in foodstuffs
containing ample quantities of radical scavengers and in
the possibility to supplement their potential by suitable
phytosubstances. In this context, increasing importance
is attached to the substances of wine.
The polyphenols, not least the
catechins of the grape, obviously
promote fat burning.
Almost every week, researchers come forward with new
findings. For example, with an explanation why the
calories of wine do not automatically entail weight gain.
The polyphenols, not least the catechins of the grape,
obviously promote fat burning.
Healthier bones
Two further results, published in May 2009, are
astonishing, too.
From Framingham, a small town in the State of Massachusetts:
A moderate intake of wine or beer has
favorable effects on bone density, measured at the hips
and vertebral columns of 1,182 men and 1,289 women
of middle age and over. Already in 2008, the evaluation
of a total of 33 studies showed a reduction in fracture
incidence as a consequence of the consumption of the
polyphenols contained in alcohol.
From Los Angeles, California: Results from a study of
953 men and women show that a glass of wine per day
can reduce the risk of laryngeal cancer by 56 %. A possible
explanation: Antioxidants of the wine neutralize
the damage to the esophagus caused by the eructation of
gastric acid.
28 29

Resveratrol & Co.
If the grape juice is fermented to wine, great differences
arise. The berry consists of the colorless pulp, the seeds
and the skin. During fermentation, polyphenols are extracted
from all of these elements. There are two groups
of polyphenols present: The pulp contains only non-flavonoid
phytosubstances which later form certain acids.
The skin and seeds have polyphenols of quite a different
type, namely the aforementioned flavonoid antioxidants,
which have a much stronger effect. The vine produces
them as the need arises, thus protecting itself from pests,
cold and heat.
Two glasses for the man,
one for the woman
What exactly is to be understood by «moderation» is explained in
detail at the end of each study, as a warning against health-damaging
excesses, so to speak: Moderate intake means that a grownup
couple may enjoy three quarters of a bottle of wine (750 ml) a
day. Approximately two glasses for the man, one for the woman.
30 31
About a hundred of such substances are known, from
15 plant species. The most important of these substances
are resveratrol, quercetin with its derivative rutine, as
well as a number of catechins.

White wine or red wine
White wine is fermented only from pulp quickly separated
from the skins and seeds. This prevents the
particularly valuable flavonoid polyphenols from migrating
to the wine. Red wine results because the juice and
the grape mash – i. e. the skin and seeds – remain a mix
for up to four weeks. In the process, almost all phytosubstances
are extracted. This gives the liquid its red
color, and an alcoholic solution which is much richer in
antioxidants will accumulate – one could call it resveratrol
wine.
Phytoalexines: The self-medication of plants
The substances some plants use to defend themselves against disease are called phytoalexines
and anthocyanidines. They are antibacterial substances which are formed
within 24 hours after an infection – for example with mould or noble rot – or any
other damage suffered. This natural defense reaction was detected in 1941. They will
also develop if natural factors, such as injuries, UV radiation, stress or the onset of
cold, attack the plant. The berries of organic vines contain more of them, by the way,
because they have to use their own resources to defend themselves against fungi.
The whole is more than
the sum of its parts
This insight arrived at by natural scientist
and philosopher Aristotle gives reason to
deal with further health-promoting ingredients
of red wine. However, the man who
founded the science of logic had no way
of knowing how the various polyphenols
of red wine interact and mutually enhance
their respective effects. As soon as the
«red-wine medicine» with its guaranteed
content is taken as a food supplement, the
full orchestra with its wide range must be
given consideration in a meaningful way.
In addition to resveratrol, the following
substances explain the wide range of efficacy:
32 33

Quercetin –
anti-inflammatory
This flavonoid is of yellowish color and is therefore
named after the oak tree (lat. quercus). Like resveratrol,
it is strongly anti-inflammatory and antioxidative. In
addition, it also possesses antiallergic effects. Quercetin
is said to have far-reaching positive effects. In the
vessels, it inhibits the clotting of platelets and reduces
the risk of thrombosis. Its cancer-preventive effect
deserves special mention. Quercetin is a phytoestrogen in
which, obviously, plant-based hormones and antioxidative
substances complement each other in cancer prevention.
Furthermore, quercetin also has a cancer-inhibiting
effect and has been granted market authorization by
some national commissions as cancer medication in
addition to chemotherapy. This effect is attributed to the
inhibition of a certain enzyme.
OPC – protective
Oligomeric proanthocyanidins, or in short OPC, are
substances that occur naturally in plants but are rarely
contained in food. This is because they are primarily
contained in the skin and seeds. They have a tendency
of forming compounds with other chemical substances
and therefore are regarded as highly active amplifiers of
the effects of vitamins and other biological substances.
As antioxidative polyphenols they also neutralize free
radicals. They have been proven to exert their protective
effect in the human body in preventing atherosclerosis.
Part of their cardiovascular protective function consists
in their blood-pressure-lowering potential. In the skin,
they support the formation of new collagen – a visible
anti-aging contribution.
As antioxidative polyphenols they
also neutralize free radicals.
34 35

Catechins – antimicrobial
Catechins, popularly known as «tea polyphenols», are
hugely effective antimicrobial, antiviral radical scavengers.
Many readers will certainly be surprised to
learn that both green tea and red wine possess this
phytosubstance. What is true for the one is also true
for the other: The immune system is strengthened and
the risks of contracting a heart condition or cancer are
lowered.
The effects of catechins contribute to a great extent to
the intriguing «French paradox». These polyphenols
inhibit the storage of fat in the liver and in the rest of the
body. Their antioxidative effect is up to a hundred times
stronger than that of the best-known vitamins. In Asia,
the catechins contained in green tea contribute significantly
to a much lower incidence of individual types of
cancer than in the Western world.
A traditional remedy
By the way: Like the catechins just mentioned, also
resveratrol is formed in high concentration in Far-Eastern
plants. In Asia, this polyphenol has for thousands of
years been regarded as a healing substance for curing
inflammations and heart disease; it is primarily gained
from Japanese knotweed. Medicinal plants used in
Ayurvedic medicine also contain resveratrol.
Color alone won’t cut it
Researchers focused on this substance and its concomitant
polyphenols when they tackled the issue of
deciphering the «French paradox». The results from
trials with 165 wines were: The highest concentration of
resveratrol was found in wines from regions where the
average life expectancy was longer: this was shown most
clearly in the south-west of France, in the area of Gers,
Department Midi-Pyrénées, with approximately 200,000
36 37

inhabitants, where the Tannat grape prevails, and on
Sardinia. Researchers from the University of Glasgow,
professors Roger Corder and Alan Crozier, identified the
most bioactive polyphenol of these wines. They contained
up to two grams of resveratrol per liter – twenty
times more than other red wines. This is believed to be
due to the traditional wine-making process. Modern
procedures leave the juice and the grape mash together
for just one week, which is enough for achieving the red
color, and use other filtration methods.
What else can it do
The next questions popped up quite by themselves: How
does resveratrol do this What else can it do The evaluation
of huge quantities of data on population groups
and their diseases confirmed the statements made in
respect of life expectancy: According to these cohort
studies, wine drinkers lived 5 years longer on average.
Abstinence turned out to be a severe health risk! The
mechanism of action has been fully investigated: Inflammatory
processes occur more rarely. The oxidation of
LDL cholesterol is restricted. The clotting of platelets is
inhibited.
Wine drinkers lived 5 years longer on
average. Abstinence turned out to be
a severe health risk!
These effects – most importantly - also benefit diabetics.
The evaluation of the famous Nurses’ Health Study
covering more than 120,000 nurses evidenced a reduction
by 55 percent in the risk of cardiac disease. Similar
reductions were shown for infections of the gastrointestinal
tract and for the formation of kidney stones. Many
effects of resveratrol can be proven in humans by means
of uncomplicated examinations. For example: During
the oxidation of low-density lipids (LDL cholesterol),
38 39

an aldehyd called hexanal is created. Measurements
substantiate that it will be reduced when the red-wine
polyphenols are applied.
For men and women
Was it found to have different effects in men and
women Basically no, but potentially harmful influences
of alcohol are a greater threat to the female organism, for
example in respect of breast cancer.
Anti-aging in the laboratory
Even more interesting results are found in the laboratory,
where the most diverse cultures of living cell
matter are confronted with bioactive substances.
Equipped with the knowledge of modern molecular
medicine, which permits insights into what is going on
the molecular level, scientists pursue this path more
consistently than ever. In this process, new biological
40 41
functions of resveratrol continue to be identified to this
very day. There is no end in sight! Therefore a journal
for biological medicine came up with the ingenious
name of «Nature’s Swiss Army Knife» for this extremely
versatile antioxidative polyphenol.
Dementia prophylaxis
For example, a result published in a neurological journal
provided sensational food for thought in connection
with the threat of dementia. Obviously, disturbed blood
circulation in the brain and oxidative stress are due to
«waste dumps» of certain protein molecules in the walls
of the brain’s nerve cells. Nerve cells which produce such
protein splitting were drenched with resveratrol, and the
negative effect was reduced.

Anticancer agent from red wine
According to recent discoveries, chronic yet painless inflammations (known by the
technical term of «silent inflammation») favor the development and proliferation of
cancer cells. Resveratrol inhibits these processes. Further antitumor activities protect
the DNA against aggressive molecules, block hormone receptors at cancer cells or even
drive them into a form of self-destruction (apoptosis). As one enzyme also converts
resveratrol into a substance known from the traditional medicine of the Far East, piceatannol,
the growth of cancer
Chemical structure of resveratrol
6
HO
5
4
3
OH
2
2'
3'
cells can obviously be
OH inhibited. Following studies
4'
with intestinal cancer cells,
the J. W. Goethe University
in Frankfurt publicized the
5'
following finding in 2002: «Based
on our results, piceatannol may be
regarded as a most promising anticancer
substance».
6'
Positive results were derived from trials performed on animals
or cell cultures in respect of cancers of the blood cells
42 43

(leukemia), the skin, the breast, the intestine, and the
prostate. Even though cancer cells protect themselves
against chemotherapy, resveratrol seems to have positive
effects.
Calorie restriction
For approximately 80 years already, scientists have
been experimenting with a principle that promises the
most sought-after effect of all anti-aging measures: the
prolongation of life. With laboratory rats this can already
been achieved. But this principle of success is hardly
transferable to humans because it requires people to
forgo a lot: Life-long calorie restriction by at least 30 %
would be necessary, or, in other words, starving for a
longer life which offers less pleasure.
Overall, reducing the intake of food serves to facilitate
the entire metabolism: it means a lower basal metabolic
rate, lower blood sugar and insulin levels with a
reduced risk of hypertension and vessel damage, less
cell energy, and a reduction of the resulting aggressive
oxygen molecules, the free radicals. The oxidative stress
acting on the entire organism is reduced. Another effect
of hunger, which occurs at the gene level, contributes to
the prolongation of life: Food deprivation puts the cells
in a particularly intelligent state of emergency-induced
Food deprivation puts the cells in
an intelligent state of emergencyinduced
dormancy
dormancy: At the lowest possible consumption of energy,
special repair measures are started, prolonging the life
span of the individual cell. In this process, special protein
enzymes, the sirtuins, are formed. They are also called
longevity genes. The most important of these is the
SIR-2 gene.
44 45

Resveratrol –
an aging decelerator
In tens of thousands of trials, researchers worked to find
substances which cause the same effect in living cells
without going hungry: mimicking a calorie restriction
with subsequent life extension.
A researcher from Harvard Medical School, David Sinclair,
had the privilege to find out that resveratrol had
these properties! A clear prolongation of the life span
was already observed in individual life forms, such as
fruit flies, thread worms and even in a fish species –
Nothobranchius furzeri.
In any case, no anti-aging substance
is known to date that is more effective
than resveratrol.
A place in history
There is little doubt that it will be possible
to transfer these results to the human
body although this may take many more
years of research.
In any case, no anti-aging substance is
known to date that is more effective than
resveratrol. As «red-wine medicine», the
flavonoid phenols have found their place
in history. However, in order to achieve
the most important therapeutic effects,
theoretically, 120 to 1,000 liters of red
wine would have to be drunk per day,
depending on the variety. But which one
Individual grapes contain up to 60 different
polyphenols.
46 47

Capsules instead of glasses
For this reason, it is advisable to opt for a food supplement
which provides a sufficiently documented,
pharmaceutical-grade concentration of resveratrol in interaction
with the further red-wine polyphenols, containing
a medically effective dose of each of the ingredients.
In contrast to the mono-substances sold primarily in
US drugstores, well-balanced food supplements such as
Resverol ® (manufacturer: VitaBasix ® ) combine resveratrol
with the antioxidants quercetin, OPC and the wine
catechins, all of which are also found in the grape.
To consume resveratrol not only from the bottle is recommendable
also for another reason: When wine ages, phenols
within the bottle will disappear because the oxygen
that passes the cork causes them to oxidize.
48

Resverol ®
Manufacturer: VitaBasix ®
Enjoying red wine is not enough to ensure that our
health will benefit from the extremely varied effects of
the polyphenols. By means of the precisely designed
food supplement Resverol ® made by VitaBasix ® , the
required dose of the red-wine medicine resveratrol can
be supplied on a long-term basis. One capsule a day is
sufficient. As a supplement to resveratrol, it also contains
a well-coordinated mix of the highly effective grape
antioxidants quercetin, OPC as well as further catechins,
in pharmaceutical grade.
Resverol ® Info hotline:
Phone: 00800-8010 8040 (toll-free)
or on the Internet at:
www.vitabasix.com

The red-wine substance
against free radicals and
for a longer life
Resveratrol is the anti-aging phytosubstance.
It earned its reputation as the
red-wine medicine which saved South
Frenchmen from fatal cardiac disease in
spite of a diet rich in fats. But this highly
effective polyphenol acts in all parts of
the body. It provides protection against
the most dramatic diseases, such as cancer
and Alzheimer’s. With its phantastic
characteristic it brings humankind closer
to seeing a dream come true: Resveratrol
activates a longevity gene and gives us
additional years of life.
For more information, consult this booklet!