Red wine, chocolate, grapes may not improve your health

Researchers have found that the antioxidant resveratrol found in red wine, chocolate and grapes is not linked with longevity or the incidence of cardiovascular disease, cancer and inflammation.

The study was conducted by Richard D. Semba, M.D., M.P.H., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md., and colleagues.

The participants (a sample of 783 men and women 65 years or older) were part of the Aging in the Chianti Region study from 1998 to 2009 in two Italian villages.

The authors sought to determine if resveratrol levels achieved through diet were associated with inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and death. Levels were measured using 24 hour urine collections to look for breakdown products of resveratrol.

During nine years of follow-up, 268 participants (34.3 percent) died; of the 639 participants free of cardiovascular disease at enrollment, 174 (27.2 percent) developed cardiovascular disease during the follow-up; and of the 734 participants who were free of cancer at enrollment, 34 (4.6 percent) developed cancer during the follow-up. Urine resveratrol metabolite levels were not associated with death, inflammation, cardiovascular disease or cancer.