Special Edition: Resveratrol

Science: Is resveratrol really behind the French Paradox?

By Stephen Daniells, 10-Sep-2009

Related topics: Resveratrol's rosy outlook, Research, Antioxidants, carotenoids, Phytochemicals, plant extracts, Cancer risk reduction, Cardiovascular health

In the third part of a special series on resveratrol, NutraIngredients looks at the science behind the ingredient. Is the French Paradox exclusively due to resveratrol?

Resveratrol, a powerful polyphenol and anti-fungal chemical, is often touted as the bioactive compound in grapes and red wine, and has particularly been associated with the so-called 'French Paradox'. The phrase, coined in 1992 by Dr Serge Renaud from Bordeaux University, describes the low incidence of heart disease and obesity among the French, despite their relatively high-fat diet and levels of wine consumption.

"Beginning in the early 1990s the word resveratrol started beeping on people's radar screens," said Bert Scwhitters, President of INC, a supplier of oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs).

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