Studies at Harvard Medical School and the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Biology have found that resveratrol, a natural compound found in the skin of red grapes and hence in red wine, may radically reduce the risk not only of heart disease but also of age related illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease. It might also counter the effects of a high-fat diet and even prolong life.
Resveratrol, a nutrient found in red wine, keeps estrogen from causing breast cancer in test-tube studies. Resveratrol increases production of an enzyme that destroys dangerous estrogen metabolites.
Resveratrol has the ability to prevent the first step that occurs when estrogen starts the process that leads to cancer. Scientists believe that this could stop the whole progression that leads to breast cancer down the road. This is dramatic because it was able to be done with fairly low concentrations of resveratrol.
"This could arguably be the biggest medical discovery since antibiotics"
- Joseph Barr an author of the Harvard Study
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