Resveratrol – The Substance That Protects Your Nerves

The entry Resveratrol – The Substance That Protects Your Nerves is courtesy of Blood Pressure Nutrition Blog

Resveratrol, a substance found in unusually large amounts in the skin of red grapes, has a neuroprotective effect, according to a study conducted in March 2017. This means that the plant substance protects the nerves from harmful influences. Nerves are known for their poor regeneration ability. Once damaged, it is not so easy for them to recover. It is far better, if you know nerve-protecting substances, so that the nerves can not even be damaged. Resveratrol is one of these protective substances.

Resveratrol: The healthy substance from grapes

Resveratrol is a secondary plant substance with many exceptional health benefits. It can help reduce blood pressure, regulate cholesterol levels, dilute blood, and fight off cancer.
Resveratrol also has a very positive regulating effect on the hormone balance (for instance in the case of polycystic ovarian syndrome PCOS).

Red grapes contain a lot of resveratrol. However, in these delicious fruits not only resveratrol is present, but also other secondary plant compounds, such as the quercetin. In the next few years, both substances will be used as an adjunct to chemotherapies, since they can increase the effect of the therapy and at the same time noticeably alleviate the bad side effects.

Resveratrol: the anti-aging substance

In a study from The Journals of Gerontology, scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute have shown that Resveratrol can also protect the musculature as well as the connections between the nerves - called synapses - from the negative effects of the aging process.

Everything goes slower as you get older,

says Dr. Gregorio Valdez, assistant professor at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

Age-related gait uncertainties, balance problems and motor coordination disorders lead to many problems in everyday life. Accidents happen, the mobility is restricted leading to the usual consequences of lack of movement - and altogether this reduces the quality of life.
We are now working to identify those molecular changes that lead to the described motoric problems during the aging process - and I believe we will soon be able to slow the age-related degeneration of neuronal connections and circuits.

Resveratrol protects nerves and muscles

An optimal, low-calorie diet in combination with exercise - as we already know - protects neuromuscular synapses against age-related degenerative changes. Neuromuscular synapses are responsible for forwarding movement commands to the muscles. If this forwarding does not work, the abovementioned movement restrictions will occur.
Resveratrol could be an important and helpful tool here. If the substance is given to older animals over a long period of time, it shows a similar fascinating effect, namely a strong rejuvenating effect as the combination of low-calorie diet and exercise.

Resveratrol: Drinking wine is not a good idea

Resveratrol is especially present in the skin of dark grapes. Therefore, white wine has no significant resveratrol content. Also, grape juice contains a low amount of Resveratrol, because the grape skin is removed when juicing. In this regard, red wine is actually the leader.
Nevertheless, the amount of resveratrol is too low (about 10 mg/l) in the red wine to achieve the described nerve-protective and rejuvenating effect. This requires about 120 mg per day, so that one would have to drink 12 liters of wine daily to absorb this amount. Therefore, red wine is not considered as a source of resveratrol for nerve protection.

Resveratrol: Always combine with other grape substances

However, pure resveratrol dietary supplements are also not recommended since resveratrol requires at least some of the other plant substances contained in the grape, for example, quercetin, catechin and rutin.
The more these substances are present in combination, the better the effect, since all these substances act synergistically, that means they mutually support and reinforce each other. Therefore, when buying Resveratrol preparations, make sure that it is not a mono-preparation but a combination of the mentioned substances.