Now, this is great news as we approach my birthday.

Because among my favorite things are a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a Petite Syrah, even an occasional Malbec (in decreasing elation).   And, now the data is in about resveratrol, an anti-oxidant (a polyphenol), which has some pretty potent benefits.

You have to think about this study I will be discussing.  Because you will first think it’s a joke.  Except, if we really are planning to send astronauts to Mars, this has to be a primary concern.

These four docs at Beth Israel-Deaconess Hospital (part of Harvard Med) are concerned that the astronauts won’t be able to do exercises or have the devices that exist on the International Space Station (ISS), which are critical to maintain their muscle mass and strength.  (The spaceship to Mars will be considerable smaller in size than the ISS. )

The paper, A Moderate Daily Dose of Resveratrol Mitigates Muscle Deconditioning in a Martian Gravity Analog,  was published in Frontiers in Physiology.  Drs.  Marie Montreux, Daniela Riveros, Mary Bouxsein, and Seward Rutkove recognize that dietary strategies are going to be the key element in helping the astronauts stay strong.

The team used male rats who were able to eat and drink as they wanted- but their total food intake was monitored.  For two-week periods, the rats were maintained in normal or Mars-gravity (40% of normal); half of the rats were provided resveratrol (150 mg/kg/d).

There was no affect upon their overall weight or calf measurements.  But, the resveratrol allowed the rats to maintain their front and rear hind limb grip force.  (The rats without the supplement lost significant grip strength.)  The resveratrol also allowed the rats to preclude muscle atrophy.

The authors caution that they have no data on females and the number of rats may have been too small to guarantee success in space.

But, that’s not the only piece of data.

There’s also a study that claims that resveratrol prohibits the enzyme expression (photophodiesterase 4, aka PDE4) that causes depression and anxiety.  Drs. X Zhu, W Li, , H Zhang, and X Yin (all from Xuzhou Medical, China); W Xu, Y Yuan (both of Yichun City Hospital); Y Li (Donghai People’s Hospital) plus V Zheng, Y Xu,  and JM O’Donnell (Buffalo) discovered this result, as published in The antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effects of resveratrol: Involvement of phosphodiesterase-4D inhibition. 

Clearly, those are two issues that can be important during long, lonely travel times in space.

Of course, we already know that red wine boosts levels of omega-3 fatty acids in our blood.  (Omega-3’s are vital to protect the body against heart disease.)

Now, I’m not headed off to Mars anytime soon, but I can feel secure that I’m keeping my strength up routinely, here on Earth.

Shall pour you a glass?