Resveratrol & Obesity

Over the past several decades an observation was made that French people suffer a relatively low incidence of obesity and heart disease despite having a diet rich in saturated fats. It's been suggested that the nation's high consumption of red wine is a primary factor for the 'The French Paradox.' One of the components of red wine potentially related to this effect is resveratrol. The proposal has led to a large number of scientific studies investigating a possible link between obesity and resveratrol.

Metabolic Syndrome

According to the National Institutes of Health, metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms revolving around obesity known to raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke. In a study published in the October 2010 issue of the "International Journal of Obesity," researchers studied the effect of resveratrol on levels of adipocytokines in human fat tissue. Adipocytokines are important chemical messengers exhibiting both anti-diabetic and anti-atherosclerotic properties. Adipocytokine levels are severely suppressed in obese people. The researchers demonstrated levels are increased in the presence of resveratrol.

Adiponectin

Adiponectin, which is a protein hormone produced by fat cells, is important for regulating insulin and energy production. In obese people, circulating levels are decreased and is a major contributor to excess fat storage and diabetes incidence. A study published in the January 2011 issue of the "Journal of Biological Chemistry" reports that resveratrol increases the levels of circulating adiponectin. The researchers demonstrated that resveratrol significantly enhanced the levels of a protein named DsbA-L, which is responsible for adiponectin production. The beneficial effect of resveratrol is to up-regulate the expression of DsbA-L, which in turn up-regulates circulating levels of adiponectin.

Pre-adiopocytes

A June 2008 article published online in "Science Daily" discussed an experiment run by researchers presenting at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting held in San Francisco. The researchers experimented with a strain of human fat cell precursors called pre-adipocytes. In the body, pre-adipocytes develop into mature fat cells. They found that resveratrol prevented the pre-fat cells from reproducing and also prevented them from turning into mature fat cells. In addition, resveratrol hindered fat storage and stimulated the production of adiponectin. The researchers concluded that resveratrol has anti-obesity properties exerted directly on fat cells.

Resveratrol's Anti-Obesity Effect

Researchers reporting in the May 2011 issue of "Nutrition & Metabolism" suggest that daily high dose consumption of resveratrol may reduce body fat levels by preventing the formation of fat tissue. The scientists fed two groups of rats an obesity-inducing diet, but supplemented one of the groups with resveratrol in the amount of 30 milligrams per kilogram of body weight every day. At the end of six weeks, both groups had similar body weight, but the resveratrol group had significantly lower fat tissue levels. The researchers noted a reduction in the activity of fat-producing enzymes in the resveratrol group.

Resveratrol & Obesity

Metabolic Syndrome

Adiponectin

Pre-adiopocytes

Resveratrol's Anti-Obesity Effect

References

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