Supplements claiming to help people stay young and healthy as long as possible has browsers scouring the internet day after day for the latest research, sifting out what’s believable and what’s not: and for good reason. Studies show that in the next two decades the number of Americans 65 years of age and up will grow from 35 million to 71 million. It's no surprise that scientists, researchers, and even those 30-somethings noticing their first wrinkle are searching for an intervention. And in the form of a measly grape-skin, that intervention has finally arrived.
Dr. Joseph Maroon, a neurosurgeon who doubles as a triathlete, father, and author, is a fairly well-known contributor to age-related and epidemiological research. As the team neurosurgeon for the NFL Pittsburg Steelers, he began studying nutritional factors that would improve health and prevent disease. In so doing, he became fascinated with the now widely renowned molecule resveratrol and its ability to activate what is called the SIRT1 longevity gene.
SIRT1 and Longevity
Found in red grapes and the vines on which they grow, resveratrol has been most often associated with activating the longevity gene, sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). According to research done by Mitchell Knutson and Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, professors in food science and the biology of aging at the University of Florida, SIRT1 increases energy efficiency of cells in the body. The SIRT1 gene needs to be continually reactivated over to increase cellular energy, which means continued ingestion of resveratrol is necessary to continue seeing the benefits.