The Longevity Factor: How Resveratrol and Red Wine Activate Genes for a Longer and Healthier Life,   ISBN:9781416551072

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In the 1930s, Clive McCay, a nutritional scientist at Cornell University in NY, was a pioneer in proving the link between calorie restriction and longevity. Since then, hundreds of studies have proven the link--studies on not only mice, rats, and dogs, but also primates.

But what if you could take a pill and not have to restrict your calories? A nutrient known as resveratrol appears to have some promise. The Longevity Factor is an explanation for how this works as well as a guide for which supplements work best.

During times of stress, such as drought or too much sun, plants can increase production of specialized molecules called xeno factors. When animals consume these plants, the xeno factors interact with the animals' genes and impart amazing health benefits, allowing the animals to live in some cases up to 50% longer! When xeno factors are made into an extract such as resveratrol, the compounds seem to trick the body into mounting a response similar to calorie restriction even without cutting back of food. The effects appear to cover all theories of aging (which are presented in this book). "By activating specific mechanisms within our cells, they help to control inflammation, regulate cell survival, repair cells, and prevent cell death. As antioxidants, they work to enhance the all-important performance of the immune and endocrine systems" (p. 30). Like the calorie restricted diet, resveratrol activates the SIRT1 gene, known as the longevity gene.

What if you don't want to take the pill? The example is given of a French woman who lived to be 122. She claimed her secret was walking and two glasses a day of red wine. (Before you go on a drinking spree, note that with any more than 2 glasses, the toxicity of the alcohol outweighs the benefits of resveratrol.) We are given a list of which red wines are the most beneficial. Also, certain foods contain resveratrol. These include red wine, apples, dark chocolate, green tea, pistachios, peanuts and grape juice. But to get the full benefit of taking the extract, one would have to consume hundreds of bottles of wine!
The book cites studies done on animals. The benefits of reseveratrol include higher energy, burning of body fat, increased aerobic capacity, sensitivity to insulin, better strength and coordination, with no negative side effects. In addition, there is an entire section with chapters on the following benefits: better memory (even helps with Alzheimer's), healing from diabetes, anticancer effect, cardio protection, stroke prevention, brain protection, and healing inflammatory conditions.

The latter part of the book includes which are the best brands, dosage, safety, a four step weight loss program, and even recipes.

In April of 2008, cutting edge resveratrol researcher David Sinclair told Barbara Walters's nationwide TV audience that the science of aging "has split the atom," and living to be 120 or 150 is not unrealistic. Are you on board? I know I am! (But until they get everything perfected, I am nonetheless watching those calories...)

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a must for anyone that wants to improve their health. resveratrol is amazing stuff.

I have a blind cat. sick and blind since birth. 6 years old. i started giving him a tiny smiggen of the resveratrol with his nightly meds. Within a month of doing this you can now see a eye on the left side. you can see that he has golden brown with the pupil in in. AMAZING!
took him to the Dr. to have blood work done. all blood came back normal except for his potassium. that was off the charts. took him off it for a week. eyes were wheeping alot during that week. taking a turn for the worse. Went back to vet and potassium was normal again. Unfortunalty it is not a win win thing here. I am now doing a smiggen of resveratrol 2x a week and we will test his blood again in 2 weeks. I will find a happy medium for him. the stuff has done wonders for his life.he can now see somewhat and is exercising, which is something that was never there before.

As far as myself and husband? I'm hooked. I look better and feel better.In 20 years I will be glad I stayed with it I'm sure.

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Bordeaux and Burgundy red wine seem to prolong the life for the French. The subject of funded research, as a life-extending pill is: Resveratrol (RE).

You saw the 60 minute and Barbara Walter's interview with Dr. David Sinclair, of Harvard Medical School and Sirtuin. Sinclair is the main advocate for RE. He said you would take 1000 bottles of red wine per day to get the amount of RE to prolong your life.

The book is well written with detailed data and research. Dr. Maroon is highly respected in the academy. I recommend the reading of this book, to understand RE and related anti-aging tips.

Back to RE, Sinclair continues to do experiment in the lab. But there are 100+ companies on website, selling RE now. They don't seem to wait for Sinclair. Sinclair did experiments on yeast and on mice. But human gene is different. By the time Sinclair proves that human life can truly be prolonged taking RE, it is probably 2014.

But on B. Walter's show, Sinclair said he took RE for the past three years. Which RE does he take? He did not say. I guess he will live to 100 if you believe him.

I was at Okinawa in Japan. The island where residents live the longest in the world. They did not consume RE as much as the French. Yet, with low stress, fish, fruits, vegetable, a clean living, they age well.

I recommend "Okinawa program", the book by Drs. Wilcox and Dr. Suzuki, for anyone who want to be centenarians. I visited Dr. Suzuki for his personal tips on anti-aging. You can read these tips in my book review.

Conclusion, Japanese life style is better than the French for a long life.

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this is a well written book by a doc who has fully researched the research on resveratrol, quercitin and other factors that trigger the enzymes that in turn activate the genes for a longer healthier life. The bio chem segments are quite detailed but intelligible for the average lay person. I especially liked the chapter on the Australian extract and serendipity.
this will remain on my health library shelf.

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As an ER nurse, I see more heart attacks than I would prefer. Thought the "French Paradox" was interesting, but I was skeptical. Turns out, the more research I do, the more credible it appears. This book had a page or two about muscadine wine. I was glad to see this as "The Red Wine Diet" did not. I give "The Longevity Factor" five stars for mentioning this. The other book was all about French red wines and did not speak one word of muscadine wine even though every source I can find suggest it is a far greater source of resveratrol. Muscadine wine is very popular in the Southeast, but not elswhere as the grapes will not grow in other regions. Muscadine was used for 8,000 years by native americans. Wines were made in the early 1500's in the New World as explorers found this grapes growing wild all over the coastal areas of the Southeast. Turns out, muscadine grapes have far more health benefits than traditional red wines. I have read anywhere from 10X to 40X the amount of resveratrol compared to traditional red wines. Bowman Gray School of Medicine (Wake Forest) did a study this past year on Natures Pearl, a muscadine seed supplement, and results should be out any time now. What I have seen so far looks very promising. A cardiology professor led the study and it is to be printed any time now for the public. Duplin Winery located in Rose Hill, North Carolina, the largest muscadine winery, sells a similar/same product Nutragrape. They have great wines and a very informative website as well. Harvard School of Medicine showed the anti-oxidants in muscadine wine increased mice life expectancy 30%, even with high fat diets. Reductions in LDH (bad cholesterol) and increases in HDL (good cholesterol) were significant. An independent lab in Wareham, Mass, Biotech, said that the muscadine seed had more resveratol in it than anything they had ever tested. I have contacted researchers from Miss State, Florida Univ, and other state level organizations and all my info says the same thing. Muscadine wine/grapes are far superior to all other red wines in regards to health benefits. It is perplexing to me. Why is so little said about this on a national level? Why do most the books and articles speak only of red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, etc..? Two thoughts on the subject. One, muscadine grapes only grow in the Southeast of the US and are just a well kept secret to the rest of the world. Two, the market for French, California, Argentina, Austalian, wines is so great, and is experiencing a surge as people start drinking red wine for health reasons, that it would hurt the sales of these wines if people found out that $7-15/bottle muscadine wine was more healthy. I am appreciative that the author of this book included the information on muscadine wine. Few books I have read to date included it. Perhaps this is a case of "sweet wines" not being given any credibility. Perhaps they just don't cost enough. Not sure. But I do know that there is no way I will be drinking the firm tannin, astringent, and expensive french red wines after the information I have discovered recently. I will be taking a Natures Pearl or Nutragrape supplement in the morning, putting a little muscadine jelly on my toast, and having a wonderful glass of sweet southern made muscadine wine with my evening meal. I encourage anyone to research this area further. I suspect you, like me, will be surprised at what you find out. As a sidenote, Smith-Glaxo-Kline (huge pharmaceutical corporation) recently payed 3/4 of a BILLION dollars for a study on resveratrol. I suspect the "Fountain of Youth" pill will be coming out in the next 5 years or so. Do some reading, dig a little beneath the surface and get past the hype of French red wines. Google "muscadine health" for starters.