University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers and their colleagues have found that a low dose of dietary resveratrol (found in red wine and certain foods) mimicked many of the anti-aging effects of caloric restriction (CR) in mice.

The researchers focused on age-associated changes in gene expression for mice that had been given a control diet, resveratrol, or a CR diet starting from middle age. The resveratrol dose was 4.9 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day (equivalent to 333mg per day for a 150 pound person), which is up to 1/40th the doses in previous mouse studies.

Gene expression profiles (patterns of gene expression) are useful because they correlate with biological (not chronological) aging.

They found that resveratrol and CR caused similar patterns of gene expression in genes associated with heart and muscle aging. Both diets resulted in better heart function relative to the control group.

Previous studies of resveratrol on mice included a high fat diet and very high doses of resveratrol (22 or 186 mg/kg per day), making it less clear what the resveratrol was doing, or if practical doses (for human consumption) would have positive health effects.

University of Wisconsin-Madison News Release

Link to research article: A Low Dose of Dietary Resveratrol Partially Mimics Caloric Restriction and Retards Aging Parameters in Mice

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