Dionysus was the god of wine, fertility, and debauchery, but was he also the god of long life?
Our attraction to grapes (Vitis vinifera) has been traced back to Neolithic times, and for thousands of years they have been harvested for both medicinal and nutritional use.
Phytochemicals in grapes are also known to be good for the health, and one of them—resveratrol—is famous for its potential for increasing longevity. The reason resveratrol became so famous is that it was the only thing that had been shown to increase longevity besides the very low-calorie diet (a thought of horror for the typical American!).
Basically, mice were fed high-calorie diets and one group had resveratrol added to the diet. The mice receiving the resveratrol ended up behaving like the mice with the very low-calorie diet in terms that they had increased longevity, but they also didn’t develop a host of other bad effects created by the high-calorie diet they were on. Sound like a dream scenario?
Can we have our cake and eat it, too? The science has been back and forth on the issue about the benefits of resveratrol, and the latest is that it does positively affect several processes of aging. Beyond its interest in longevity, it is known for heart health, benefitting blood sugar control and inflammation.
The common Grape vine is famously native to the Mediterranean and has been made into about 5,000-10,000 different varieties! There are several antioxidant polyphenols in grapes, not only resveratrol (in low quantities), but also several other antioxidants, such as Vitamin C, quercetin, lutein, lycopene, ellagic acid and beta-carotene. The grapes with the most amount of resveratrol are those that have dark red and purple in color, such as Malbec, Syrah, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.
#MedicinalPlants #Ethnopharm #Ethnobotany #theethnobotanicalexplorer #grape #resveratrol #longevity #wine #mediterranean #mediterraneandiet
Photo by cottonbro studio