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Antioxidants

 by Mayank

Resveralife Reviews Resveratrol as a Sleep Aid

What if we told you that there was a way to make your skin look younger and healthier as well as help your sleep cycles using the same ingredient? Over the years, numerous studies and trials have been conducted around Resveratrol to try and determine the wonders that this miracle ingredient can offer to your skin and your health. Vine Vera recently came across studies which show that apart from offering you with all sorts of skin benefits, Resveratrol can also be used as a sleep aid.

So what is Resveratrol? Well, Resveratrol is an antioxidant that is found in the skin of red grapes, red wine, nuts and other plant sources. It became very popular in the world of skin care because of its anti-aging properties and the fact that topical applications of Resveratrol proved to be far more effective than including Resveratrol in your diet. So where does sleep come in?

Vine Vera reviews a recent study that was conducted by researchers from the Maastricht University Medical Center, Netherlands and was published in the Cell Metabolism Journal. This study states that Resveratrol enabled the bodies reduce the sleeping metabolic rates, increase the muscle efficiency and allow the body to burn the same amount of energy over 24 hours. This study was based on a trial conducted with male subjects who were offered 150mg of Resveratrol every day for a period of 30 days.

Another study published in the Chronobiology International Journal proved to be even more informative. This study tried to research on the effects of Resveratrol on the sleep-wake cycle of a lemur. After 3 weeks of Resveratrol supplementation, the animal displayed an increased proportion of active-awake time. This was also accompanied by a huge reduction in slow-wave sleep and paradoxical sleep. The study also showed that these changes mainly occurred during the resting phase of the lemur sleep-wake cycle. Thus, the data obtained by the study goes on to suggest that Resveratrol might actually be an excellent regulator of sleep-wake rhythms.

A series of clinical trials conducted in Japan have also proved to be highly positive. The subjects of this trial were offered with a single dose of 14mg Resveratrol before they went to sleep. The study found out that Resveratrol considerably helped to improve the well-rested feeling among subjects who had taken these supplements. Sleep observations and brain wave measurements of these subjects further suggested that Resveratrol offered a sufficient improvement in terms of non-REM sleep, which is believed to be the most important aspect of sleeping properly.

These studies make Resveratrol an extremely interesting subject in the study of sleep perturbations that are associated with aging. Although more tests need to be carried out before conclusive evidence can be derived, the chances of a positive relationship between Resveratrol and your sleep cycles certainly seem to be extremely high.

In fact, Japan has already rolled out the first patent to use a Resveratrol based product for sleep improvement based on the human clinical data which indicates the ingredient’s ability to help improve the quality of sleep among humans when compared to placebo.

in Resveratrol 35 comments
 by Mayank

Resveralife Examines the Secrets of Vineotherapy

Vinotherapy bath in the barrel

Millions of people all over the world are known to love their few glasses of wine but, the way we look at wine has been quickly changing. Many among the rich and the famous are not just drinking those magnificent labels, they are actually bathing in them. One of the biggest patrons of wine bathing is Amar’e Stoudemire. Stoudemire actually created quite a furore on social media when he posted a photo in which he was covered with red wine up to his neck on his Instagram account.

The concept of bathing in red wine is nothing new either. It might seem to be a childhood prank, but the treatment has actually been used by the rich and the famous ever since the 1900s. This process is known as Vinotherapy. Vinotherapy is basically a process which requires one to immerse into wine-grape leaves, vines, branches and skin. Bathing in this mixture for about 30 minutes, once a week, can work wonders for your skin. Those who practice Vinotherapy believe that the process helps them to increase the circulation of their red blood cells and offers them with a rejuvenated feel.

Vine Vera Reviews the History of Vinotherapy

Mathilde Thomas was touring her parents’ winery in the year 1993 when she was asked a question, “What becomes of the seeds, red grape branches and vines?” The guest who actually asked this question was a professor who believed that the oils found in these red wine grape seeds were much more effective in preventing wrinkles than the popular antioxidant Vitamin E. This chance encounter led to expansions in the concepts of Vinotherapy by Bertrand and Mathilde Thomas, who later introduced the concepts in their own skin care line as well.

How does Vinotherapy work?

The objective of Vinotherapy is to treat a person with products that are rich in the polyphenols that are found in red wine grapes. These compounds are usually found in branches, vines and the skin of red grapes, items that are usually discarded during the wine manufacturing process. It is believed that when these polyphenols are applied to the person’s skin, they can help in masking free radicals and revealing youthful looking skin. One of the most powerful polyphenols found in these items is Resveratrol, a compound that has already proven to be highly effective when it comes to skin care.Vinotherapy treatments include a variety of massages, scrubs and body wraps using grape skin and barrel baths which allow people to bathe in a combination of red vine leaf stock and water.

Can Vinotherapy be backed by scientific data?

Those who believe in the wonders of Vinotherapy believe that it not only helps out with anti-aging, it also has anti-cancer benefits to offer. Dr. Edwin Frankel had released a study in the year 1993 which claimed that polyphenols actually offer powerful antioxidant properties to the human body. A study led by Richard Sinclair in the year 2006 also backed the importance of Resveratrol in the human body. His study showed that Resveratrol helped in offsetting the negative effects of high calorie diets in mice and that it also helped in increasing their lifespan. Sinclair worked on another study in the year 2013 in which he showed that the SIRT1 genes of the human body could be activated because of Resveratrol. It is believed that these genes control the aging process.

Other patrons of Vinotherapy

Stoudemire might have given Vinotherapy a lot of publicity, but he is not the only athlete or celebrity who enjoys this unique style of pampering. Some of the other popular names who are said to believe in the wonders offered by Vinotherapy include Patrice Evra (French footballer) and Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs future Hall of Fame guard).

So will bathing in red wine actually help?

According to medical experts, alcohol in any form is never good for the skin. The only effect that alcohol has to offer is that it dries out the skin. If one is really looking to enjoy the wonders of Vinotherapy, one needs the items that get discarded in the process of making wine – the branches, vines and the skins. Moreover, one also needs fine mini-jets like the ones found in a Jacuzzi so as to allow the mixture to work with the muscles and improve the blood circulation. A simpler alternative would be to use a Resveratrol based skin care product. It might not be able to give you the purported health benefits that Vinotherapy supposedly has to offer, but it can definitely help you rejuvenate your skin and boast of a younger and firmer looking skin.

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Woman holding a breast cancer ribbon
 by Mayank

Study Identifies Resveratrol's Ability to Inhibit Cancer

A chemical found in the skin of red grapes and in red wine, is considered to be extremely effective in fighting cancer, even after the metabolism present in the human body converts this chemical into other compounds. Vine Vera reviews a study that was published in the Science Translational Medicine Journal confirms.

This study was conducted by a group of researchers working for the Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine at the University of Leicester. This study reveals that Resveratrol, a popular antioxidant found in red wine, doesn’t become ineffective after it has been metabolized by the body.

This proves to be an extremely important finding that shows the effectiveness of Resveratrol in the human body, because recent studies had shown that Resveratrol gets metabolized very quickly, thereby raising questions on its effectiveness. This new research also shows that Resveratrol can still be taken in by the cells, even after it has been transformed into Resveratrol sulfates by the body’s metabolism.

The study also shows that enzymes present within the cells manage to break down the Resveratrol sulfates back into Resveratrol. In fact, this study actually shows that Resveratrol might be even more effective once it is transformed from Resveratrol sulfates, because of the higher concentrations.

The team had administered Resveratrol sulfates into mice to further their research. They subsequently managed to detect the presence of free Resveratrol in a variety of tissues and the plasma of mice. This is the first direct sign of the fact that Resveratrol sulfates can be transformed back into Resveratrol by the body, thereby leading researchers to believe that the compound might be even more beneficial than initially thought.

The study also confirmed that the Resveratrol generated from the Resveratrol sulfates can actually slow down the growth of cancer cells by forcing them to digest their own constituents and preventing them from dividing further.

According to Professor Karen Brown, there is some serious evidence from the lab testings that Resveratrol can not just prevent a variety of cancers, but can also protect the body from heart diseases in order to extend the lifespan of the body. It is common knowledge that Resveratrol rapidly converts into sulfates in animals.

This means that the plasma concentrations of Resveratrol become low after administration. Professor Brown states that it was always difficult for experts to understand how Resveratrol managed to offer its benefits when the concentrations were so low. She also mentions that this was one of the main reasons why many experts were doubtful if Resveratrol had any effects whatsoever on humans.

However, the latest study has actually shown that the compound can be regenerated into a more potent form and that this compound can then offer biological activity to the body in order to make itself useful in treating all sorts of diseases. However, most of these discoveries have been made in laboratory settings. Whether or not the compound actually manages to offer such benefits to humans remains to be seen.

Dr. Sarah Williams, the health information officer of Cancer Research UK, mentioned that this study supports the continued research into Resveratrol. She also mentioned that it was important to note that none of the effects were because of drinking red wine and that consuming any sort of alcohol, red wine included, increases the chances of developing cancer.

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Examining antioxidants
 by Resveralife

Resveralife Examines Whether Antioxidants Are Enough to Protect Alpha Personalities from Premature Aging

A few findings that were published in the “Functional Ecology” Journal state that unequal workloads might make the dominant individual more susceptible to premature aging and an increased risk of diseases. Scientists warn that alpha males and alpha females who are driven to do more than their share of the work might be at an increased risk of premature aging and might also have a shorter lifespan because they would be more susceptible to problems like heart diseases.

According to a study that was conducted using white-browed sparrows, it was determined that males and females who end up doing most of the work are more than likely to suffer from oxidative stress than those who don’t.

If you have an idea about your daily skin care routine, you would already be aware that oxidative stress usually occurs due to a lack of adequate antioxidants in the body. This is believed to lead to all sorts of illnesses such as accelerated aging, Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease. The study used white-browed sparrows because in a white-browed sparrow community the dominant male and female species are the only ones who defend the community’s territory. They are also the only birds that breed. Therefore, in order to assess the impact of these unequal workloads on the overall health of the birds, scientists measured the level of antioxidant protection being enjoyed by 93 different sparrow weavers before and after the breeding season.

Dr. Dominic Cram, the lead author of the study, states that animals or humans are known to divide their workloads when they live together in communities. It is common for some individuals to work harder than the others. This study was mostly conducted to investigate whether the members who work the hardest are the healthiest and whether their optimal health allows them to work more than the rest of the community. Another objective of the study was to determine whether the work rate has any impact on the health or not.

The results of the study showed that even though the antioxidant levels of the dominant individuals and the subordinates could be compared to each other before the start of the breeding season, some of the most hard working females ended up suffering from a much weakened antioxidant protection at the end of a 6 month long breeding season.

It is common knowledge that antioxidants help animals and humans to protect their bodies from the damaging free radicals present in the environment. According to Dr. Andrew Young, the co-author of the study, the findings suggest that an unequal sharing of workload might leave the harder working individual more susceptible to oxidative stress which ultimately leads to things like accelerated aging and poor health conditions.

This study could end up being extremely significant is it is one of the very first studies which suggests that social dominance in species might also lead to certain psychological costs that can have direct implications in terms of the aging and health patterns.

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