The Ideal Wine Company have heard
it all now. A new study has found that red wine may be able to ease the
symptoms of depression. It all has something to do with the wonder compound
otherwise known as resveratrol.
The wonders of resveratrol
We’ve all heard the old wives
tale. Drink two glasses of red wine a day and you’ll live to a ripe old age.
However every day there seems to be a new study, a new piece of research, which
shows us that it’s more than just an old wives tale.
Red wine is supposed to be good
for you because it contains a compound called resveratrol. Let’s list the
wonders of resveratrol. Scientists from the University of California found that
resveratrol
could be a cure for acne. Researchers from Canada discovered that the
wonder compound could
be better for you than an hour at the gym, improving muscle strength and
heart function. A study in Texas suggested that it may be able to help you ward
off age-related memory decline, making it a potential treatment option for
conditions such as Alzheimer’s.
Resveratrol can prevent inflammation in the brain
Now scientists at the South
Carolina School of Medicine have published a report which indicates that
resveratrol could ease the symptoms of depression.
You need a bit of a history
lesson to understand why. Earlier this year researchers stumbled on a game
changing revelation. They found biological evidence which links depression to
inflammation in the brain. The team at South Carolina School of Medicine
conducted research which illustrated that resveratrol can ward off inflammation
in the brain and thus, ease the symptoms of depression.
What happens when you give rats resveratrol?
They conducted two experiments
with rats to prove their point. In both exercises they persuaded one rat to
“bully” the others. The first time around some of the bullied rats developed
depression-like symptoms along with brain inflammation, whilst others showed no
sign of either.
They changed one thing the second
time around. They dosed the bullied rats with a daily helping of resveratrol. The
research’s lead author, Susan K. Wood, Ph.D. from the Department of
Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience at University of South Carolina
School of Medicine explained
to Yahoo Health what happened:
“We
measured neuroinflammation and tested for anhedonic behaviours (a prevalent
symptom of major depressive disorder) at one time point — five days after the
final stress exposure, which was also five days after the last treatment of
resveratrol,” she explained. Wood elaborated that “it was at this point
that resveratrol-treated rats had no evidence of anhedonia or inflammation
compared with rats treated with a vehicle, meaning a placebo.”
Drink up
Don’t treat this as gospel truth.
Mental health is a serious issue and if you have a mental health problem such
as depression, drinking copious amounts of red wine won’t do you any good. However
this study shows that a glass or two of Armand Rousseau Clos de la Roche 1983 from the Ideal Wine Company could be good
for your mental health!
