Want a stronger, leaner body? Turns out you can drink something that reaps the same benefits as a sweaty gym session.
According to a recent report by POPDUST, resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, could give you the same benefits of regular exercise–except, well, it’s way more fun.
“We were excited when we saw that resveratrol showed results similar to what you would see from extensive endurance exercise training,” says Jason Dyck a researcher in the department of Pediatrics and Pharmacology at the University of Alberta. “We immediately saw the potential for this and thought that we identified improved exercise performance in a pill. I think resveratrol could help patient populations who want to exercise but are physically incapable.”
Reporting in the Journal of Physiology, researchers tested this theory by putting Wistar rats on two different diets: A regular diet or a diet enhanced with resveratrol, an antioxidant extracted from red wine. Then, for the next 12 weeks, researchers had them exercise on a treadmill to gauge how it affected their cardiac and muscle function, something often associated with endurance training.
Interestingly enough, by the end of the study the rats whose diets were enhanced by resveratrol increased their muscle strength and cardiac function. These effects multiplied when they exercised as well, suggesting to researchers that resveratrol could be a possible exercise aid. Better yet, there weren’t any serious side effects reported when the rats increased their consumption of resveratrol.
Now Dyck believes it could replace exercise.
“Resveratrol could mimic exercise for them [people who can’t exercise] or improve the benefits of the modest amount of exercise that they can do,” says Dyck. “It is very satisfying to progress from basic research in a lab to testing in people, in a short period of time.”
However, don’t count on seeing a resveratrol supplement anytime soon. Human tests are still pending–and although rats are physiologically similar to humans, they aren’t the same.
Still, researchers have hope.
“Our results establish that resveratrol is an effective ergogenic aid that enhances exercise performance over exercise alone,” write researchers in the online version of the Journal of Physiology. “Resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, has beneficial effects on cardiac and skeletal muscle function, similar to the effects of endurance exercise training.”
What You Should Do
Think your workout routine needs a pick-me-up? As it turns out, sipping your favorite red wine could help maximize your cardiac and muscular potential, according to Dyck’s findings. Just make sure to do it responsibly, however–getting tipsy won’t help you work out better either!
Readers: Would you try this to get in shape?
Sources:
Quit Gym, Hit Bar–Repeat! Red Wine Has Same Benefits as Exercise – POPDUST.com
Resveratrol May be Natural Exercise Performance Enhancer – ScienceDaily.com
Improvements in Skeletal Muscle Strength and Cardiac Function Induced By Resveratrol During Exercise Training Contribute to Enhanced Exercise Performance (Study) – Wiley.com
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