Resveratrol helps get blood to the tissues (including brain)

The previous post documented that suboptimal blood perfusion results in brain shrinkage. The endothelium (inner lining of blood vessels) regulates local vascular dilation (opening) and constriction. Welcome research just published in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases offers evidence that resveratrol improves endothelial function even in obese subjects. The authors state:

"Flow-mediated dilatation of the brachial artery (FMD) is a biomarker of endothelial function and cardiovascular health. Impaired FMD is associated with several cardiovascular risk factors including hypertension and obesity. Various food ingredients such as polyphenols have been shown to improve FMD. We investigated whether consuming resveratrol, a polyphenol found in red wine, can enhance FMD acutely and whether there is a dose-response relationship for this effect."

They analyzed plasma resveratrol and FMD after varying doses of resveratrol in overweight and mildly hypertensive study subjects in a double-blind, randomized crossover comparison. What did the data show?

"There was a significant dose effect of resveratrol on plasma resveratrol concentration and on FMD, which increased from 4.1 ± 0.8% (placebo) to 7.7 ± 1.5% after 270 mg resveratrol. FMD was also linearly related to log10 plasma resveratrol concentration."

This means that resveratrol caused a significant improvement in the ability of the blood vessels to dilate (open) that corresponded closely to the dose. The cardiovascular benefits are obvious, but we can thank the research reported in the previous post for documenting the profound benefits for brain health that result from improving the capacity for the blood to get through to the tissues.The authors conclude:

"Acute resveratrol consumption increased plasma resveratrol concentrations and FMD in a dose-related manner."