Study: Fat, boozing mice stay healthy

[rh]

From CNN

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Huge amounts of a red wine extract seemed to help obese mice eat a high-fat diet and still live a long and healthy life, suggests a new study that some experts are calling "landmark" research.

The big question is, can it work the same magic in humans?

Scientists say it's far too early to start swilling barrels of red wine. But they are calling the latest research promising and even "spectacular."

The study by the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging shows that heavy doses of red wine extract lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other fat-related ill effects in obese mice.

Fat-related deaths dropped 31 percent for obese mice on the supplement, compared to untreated obese mice, and the treated mice also lived long after they should have, the study said.

Astoundingly, the organs of the fat mice that got the wine extract looked normal when they shouldn't have, said study lead author Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. And Sinclair said other preliminary work still being done in the lab shows the wine ingredient has promise in lengthening the life span of normal-sized mice, too.

For years, red wine has been linked to numerous health benefits. But the new study, published online in the journal Nature on Thursday, shows that mammals given ultrahigh doses of the red wine extract resveratrol can get the good effects of cutting calories without having the pain of actually doing it.

"If we're right about this, it would mean you could have the benefit of restricting calories without having to feel hungry," Sinclair said. "It's the Holy Grail of aging research."

full story at http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditio ... index.html

[Denny]

ze French will be so surprised, no?

[Walden]

ze French will be so surprised, no?

And Babe Ruth.

[dubhlinn]

Interesting,

I must be a fat boozy man so.

Mrs.D. is afraid of fat boozy mice.

Slan,
D.

[Denny]

ze French will be so surprised, no?

And Babe Ruth.

he's makin' a comeback???

[peeplj]

Thanks for posting that!

I started to, and then decided that if I posted it, it would tend to get serious too quickly and probably get locked.

--James

[Walden]

he's makin' a comeback???

Is this fixin' to turn into a religious discussion?

[brianormond]

Caution: Buzzkill alert!

-The study of the mice involved dosages of resveratrol on levels of that found in 50 - 100 bottles of wine, and not shown as yet to have similar efficacy in humans. More studies may shed light on whether other dosages work and whether the benefit survives when the subjects are monkeys or human rather than mice.

-Regardless, would you please pass the pinot?
Thanks!

-edited to correct poor writing and the odd word "Pinoir", a proprietary title employed by Kohler for a line of toilet fixtures. -A sip of pinot will be tastier than a sip of Pinoir.

[BoneQuint]

Caution: Buzzkill alert!

-The article also reported the levels of resveratrol used to dose the fat mice were on the level of that found in about 100 bottles of wine, impractical and expensive for regular use and not shown as yet to have similar efficacy in humans.
-Regardless, would you please pass the pinoir?
Thanks!

Also, the extract used on the mice wasn't alcoholic. There are supplements sold of resveratrol, but it's pretty much a wild guess as to what the long-term benefits or dangers to humans might be.

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRel ... atrol.html

[Denny]

he's makin' a comeback???

Is this fixin' to turn into a religious discussion?

Eww!!! I hope not! I'll be quiet now.

'sides them two spoilsports dun ruint the thread.

[Cynth]

Well, shucks.
I wish I were a mouse.

[rh]

Caution: Buzzkill alert!

okay, fine....

Coffee reduces risk of type 2 diabetes
By Anne Harding Wed Nov 1, 12:31 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Coffee drinkers have a substantially lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who abstain from the beverage, a new study shows.

This "striking" protective effect was seen in former coffee drinkers as well, Besa Smith and co-investigators at the University of California San Diego in La Jolla report.

"The growing body of literature definitely suggests strongly...that there is something there," she told Reuters Health in an interview. Just what that something is isn't clear, but it's probably not caffeine, she said, because the effect has also been observed with decaffeinated coffee.

Smith and her colleagues investigated 910 men and women, all of whom were 50 or older and free of diabetes when the study began.

When the subjects were followed-up about 8 years later, the former and current coffee drinkers were about 60 percent less likely to have developed type 2 diabetes.

The protective effects were still seen after the researchers adjusted the data for variations in physical activity, weight, blood pressure, smoking and sex among the subjects.

Coffee's protective effect was seen even among people who had impaired glucose tolerance, an early warning sign of diabetes, at the beginning of the study.

The researchers were unable to determine how much coffee people needed to drink to produce the protective effect. But study participants were generally not heavy coffee drinkers, Smith said.

"Given the increasing prevalence of obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, and diabetes, and the fact that the majority of adults in most of the Westernized world drink coffee daily, a coffee benefit could have widespread impact," she and her colleagues conclude. "Further investigation is warranted."

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, November 2006.

[Lambchop]

Well, shucks.
I wish I were a mouse.

I just adore mice. They are soooo soft and sweet, with their precious little whiskered nosies . . . and darling little Squeaks!

Alas, I'm so freakin' allergic to them . . .

[BoneQuint]

I just adore mice. They are soooo soft and sweet, with their precious little whiskered nosies . . . and darling little Squeaks!

[djm]

Well, shucks.
I wish I were a mouse.

Gee, Cynth, you're really coming out of the closet tonight. A smoker and a rodent - who'd have believed it?

For some strange reason, I am unable to find any pictures of the Amazing Kargol and Janet on the web, and all the revealing nasty bits about what makes some people want to turn into mice have mysteriously disa<<<<, ladfa8723459-7ij)(&_(Y#OIH$OY)$*))@$J