Most of the studies so far have taken place in the lab, so scientists still aren’t sure of the applications in humans. However, the preliminary research looks promising. In test-tube studies, resveratrol causes cancer cells to destroy themselves by inhibiting the activity of a protein that nourishes them. A University of Nebraska study found that resveratrol protected estrogen, keeping it from changing in a way that would trigger tumors. A Chinese study showed that resveratrol also inhibited the invasion and migration of breast-cancer cells—important because such spreading is often the reason for death from breast cancer.

In 2007, Science News reported that University of Alabama researchers fed mice resveratrol—and those mice showed an 87 percent reduction in their risk of developing prostate tumors. A study in Barcelona, Spain showed that resveratrol promoted the death of colon-cancer cells. The Kaiser California Men’s study found that men who drank red wine had a lower risk of lung cancer. And that’s just a small sampling of the results.

What if you want to add resveratrol to your daily diet? Must you drink red wine? Those who enjoy the beverage will have no problem following this prescription, but be careful—all red wines are not the same, particularly in their resveratrol content. There’s more resveratrol in red wine than in white wine in general, because red wine grapes are fermented with the skins intact, allowing the wine to absorb more of the health nutrients, while white wine grapes are fermented without the skins.

What if you’re not a wine drinker? Since resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes, including more grapes and grape-related foods like juices and jellies in your diet can increase your resveratrol intake. In fact, some research has shown stronger benefits using grape skin rather than isolating resveratrol. For instance, investigators from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) found that a certain type of grape-skin extract that does not contain significant amounts of resveratrol still helped prevent prostate cancer growth.

What about supplements? Since resveratrol degrades once exposed to the atmosphere, just how much you would get from supplements is questionable. More importantly, studies have shown that resveratrol is better absorbed through the mucus membranes in the mouth. If you take it in pill form, it is metabolized by the intestines where its potency and beneficial properties are reduced. Food is better—go for more grapes, blueberries, cranberries, mulberries, and dark chocolate. If you want to try supplements, ask your doctor, then look for high-quality brands.

Have you increased your intake of resveratrol? Please share your story.

Photo courtesy rogersmj via Flickr.com.

As you may know, radiation can often leave the skin red, irritated, and burned. Sometimes the wounds take several weeks to heal. Most current medications that help prevent skin problems can also reduce the effectiveness of radiation.

So researchers at the Catholic University and the National Research Council in Italy wondered if the antioxidants found in red wine might help. Out of about 350 women, those who drank wine on treatment days had lower rates of skin toxicity than those who didn’t. In fact, the toxicity effects were reduced up to 75 percent. (Wow!) The best news? The patients didn’t have to drink too much—just one glass in those who received the most benefit—and the wine didn’t reduce the effectiveness of the radiation therapy.

We’ve already talked about the health benefits of red wine’s resveratrol—a potent antioxidant—in another post. And this isn’t the first time that red wine has been found to be beneficial in combination with radiation therapy. Other studies by University of Rochester scientists found that red wine makes cancer cells more susceptible to radiation therapy, and normal cells more resistant. For instance, when pancreatic cancer cells—typically highly resistant to chemotherapy—were pre-treated with resveratrol, then irradiated, the combination induced “apoptosis,” a particular kind of cell death that is usually the goal of cancer treatment.

“If wine can prevent radiation-induced toxicity without affecting antitumor efficacy,” said Italian-study author Dr. Vincenzo Valentini, “it also has the potential to enhance the therapeutic benefits in cancer patients without increasing their risk of serious adverse effects.”

If you’d like to try red wine on your treatment days, ask your doctor. Another option might be to consume red or purple grape juice, which also contains antioxidants from grapes (including resveratrol). You may also consider resveratrol supplements, preferably in liquid or juice form since the antioxidant is best absorbed by the lining of the mouth.

Have you found red wine to help with cancer therapy? Please share your story.

Photo courtesy Stephane Daoust Pixelographe via Flickr.com.