The Longevity Factor is a book written by Dr. Joseph Maroon, who is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and former president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The book describes exciting research involving resveratrol and the concept of xenohormesis.
Here are some notes from the book:
• Research in David Sinclair’s lab shows that resveratrol leads to these benefits: increased memory, reduced fat cells, increased energy and endurance in muscle cells, enhanced muscle strength and decreased fatigue, improved coordination and mobility, and transformation of muscle fibers into the type found in well-trained athletes.
• A study of xenohormetic compounds in humans showed improvement in memory and endurance.
• The genetic code that provides for the survival of bacteria and yeast is written in the same biological language that articulates the biochemistry of a human being. Scientific studies, therefore, conducted on these early forms of life may indeed be extrapolated to human beings, thanks to our shared DNA.
• Studies by Rafael de Cabo at the National Institute on Aging found that resveratrol reduced tumors by tenfold in some mice.
• Giving resveratrol to mice fed a high-calorie diet led to significantly lower levels of glucose, insulin, and other markers of diabetes.
• A study found a dramatic increase in aerobic capacity and endurance in mice treated with resveratrol. Also, the mice did not gain weight despite a high-calorie diet.
• Ellagic acid has anticancer properties.
• The polyphenols in muscadine grape skins have been shown to have positive effects on heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and other inflamatory conditions.
• Muscadine extracts inhibit the release of harmful cytokines, including Nf-kB (a master regulator of the inflammatory response).
• A study of ninety sedentary human subjects used an Australian grape extract, quercetin, and resveratrol. After three months, statistically significant increases in endurance, memory, and reaction time were found in the treated groups.
• A study of diabetic rats found that quercetin regenerated pancreatic cells and increased insulin release. Another study found that quercetin reduced blood sugar and decreased appetite in both diabetic and healthy animals.
• The five stages leading to a heart attack are:
1. the accumulation and oxidation of fat by free radicals
2. inflammation within the blood vessel itself
3. a markedly decreased vascular tone and decreased elasticity of the blood vessels
4. increased clotting that results in coronary thrombosis, or the sudden obstruction of the coronary arteries
5. the damage or death of the heart muscle itself
• Resveratrol, quercetin, catechin, and the other polyphenol compounds have shown remarkable early signs of effectiveness against inflammation.
• Polyphenols bind to LDL cholesterol, thus protecting it from peroxidation.
• Polyphenols block a substance called endothelin-1, which is a potent constrictor of blood vessels and also stimulates smooth vascular muscle cells to cover up the plaque within the blood vessel.
• Resveratrol, quercetin, and catechin have antiplatelet actions. This decreases the tendency of platelets to cluster and block the arteries that nourish the heart.
• A study found that animals pretreated with resveratrol and then subjected to heart attacks showed a decreased myocardial death rate compared with animals not administered resveratrol.
• Hydrogenated oils (trans fats) promote cancer, promote heart disease, and increase fat storage.
• Resveratrol interferes with the three major stages of cancer production: it neutralizes free radicals as an antioxidant in the initiation stage, acts as an anti-inflammatory during the promotion stage, and inhibits the formation of new blood vessels supplying the tumor during the progression stage.
• Cancers inhibited by resveratrol in animals and human cell models include: colon, neuroblastoma, esophagus, breast, prostate, leukemia, metastasis to bone, squamous cell, melanoma, pancreas, ovary, liver, lung, stomach, oral cavity, cervical, lymphoma, and thyroid.
• In one study, resveratrol was administered to mice starting seven days before they received a toxic agent that caused mammary cancer. After sixty-nine days of treatment, the incidence of cancer in the mice receiving resveratrol was reduced by approximately 50 percent.
• Grape skin extract (a rich source of resveratrol and other polyphenols) inhibited prostatic cancer growth up to 98 percent in a study on animals.
• Studies using resveratrol and quercetin demonstrated that both had a significant effect on tumor growth and lung metastasis.
• In a study of malignant human pancreatic cancer cells, resveratrol appeared to act as a tumor sensitizer. It made the malignant cells more sensitive to radiation therapy yet made normal tissue less sensitive to radiation.
• In animals pretreated with resveratrol, paralysis from a stroke was prevented and the size of the brain injury was decreased. In another study, pretreatment and concurrent treatment with resveratrol significantly reduced the size of dead tissue in rats after major brain artery blockage.
• A study in rats showed that resveratrol administered immediately after a traumatic brain injury significantly reduced the area of tissue damage.
• Resveratrol may protect the spinal cord from damage by enhancing energy metabolism and decreasing the injury to axons and myelin.
• In experimental studies, resveratrol directly reduced the levels of the amyloid-beta plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
• Mice with Huntington’s disease live longer and have less disease in the brain when SIRT1 is increased.
• Sirtuin activators have neuroprotective effects in animals bred to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and optic neuritis.
• Resveratrol more than halves the production of the harmful inflammatory factors that result in the coughing, wheezing, and destruction of lung tissue in asthma. Resveratrol exhibits anti-inflammatory activity in laboratory cell lines as well as real human airway epithelial cells.
• In animals with symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, resveratrol healed ulcers and dramatically reduced inflammation.
• Studies in mice show that resveratrol reduces mortality and liver damage produced by alcohol.
• A study gave high doses of fish oil to 250 patients with arthritis. Two-thirds of the patients were able to give up pharmaceutical drugs and instead take fish oil as their anti-inflammatory.
• Trans-resveratrol is the more active form of resveratrol.
• Quercetin has anti-inflammatory effects and it helps to prevent cancer, prostatitis, heart disease, cataracts, allergies, bronchitis, and asthma. It also enhances the absorption of resveratrol and prolongs its effects.
• Animal studies or resveratrol have used the equivalent of 1.5 grams per day for the average 170-pound male and have showed no side effects.
• No animal study in which resveratrol was injected or fed to animals to treat tumors has shown a detrimental result. On the contrary, the majority of these studies have shown an impressive anticancer effect.
• Human clinical trials using from 500 to 5,000 milligrams of resveratrol have found these dosages to be safe.
• In a Harvard study the amount given to mice that increased their survival, insulin sensitivity, and mitochondrial numbers, and improved their strength and endurance, translates into a human dose in the range of 150 to 200 milligrams per day.
• Many of the resveratrol research scientists themselves take supplements.
• Catechins found in green tea have these benefits: anticlotting effects, antiviral and cold prevention effects, control of high blood pressure, cancer prevention, cholesterol control, blood sugar control, maintenance of healthy intestinal flora, contribute to weight loss, prevent bad breath, prevent tooth decay, and inhibit osteoarthritis.
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