The Connection Between Resveratrol and The French Paradox

The French Paradox is an intelligent observation about the French people, which has now become some sort of theory. The French Paradox is no longer a mystery any longer... theory. According to this theory, the French feast on a diet that’s jam-packed with saturated fats and yet they are free of heart disease. They also live longer, have fewer cases of obesity as compared to other wealthy nations, and lead healthy lives.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the average French person eats 108 grams of fat derived from animal sources per day. In contrast, the average American consumes 78 grams. There’s more – the average French person consumes four times the butter, 1.60 times the cheese, and thrice the amount of pork as compared to the average American. The French love to consume saturated fat.

After viewing these figures, it was naturally expected that the coronary disease rate in France would be higher than in USA. But researchers were surprised to learn that more Americans than French suffered from coronary heart disease!

This data perplexed the scientists. They wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery and so, they got down to their studies. What they found startled them. They found that the French did not do anything different than the Americans except that they consumed a whole lot of red wine. Then the scientists got down to figuring out what was so special about red wine and they discovered that it was the resveratrol in the red wine that was likely helping the French.

The French obviously cheered the discovery.

In 1991, the French Paradox was aired on the famous TV show 60 Minutes, and the Americans cottoned on to red wine and resveratrol. Ever since then, the consumption of resveratrol either in wine form or as supplements has been on the rise.

Red Wine may be Better for you than you think...Sometime later, another study reported that moderate consumption of alcohol is actually good for the heart. The Americans unexpectedly loved this research and then the shackles were off. So, whilst there may be some red wine benefits - moderation is always the key. If you have to choose between red & white wine, then red is likely the one to go with.

However, all said and done, there was and is no medical consensus about the positive effects of red wine on the heart. In fact, another study found no difference between different types of alcohol. It said wine, beer whisky, etc., were all alike. This made a dent in wine’s reputation because wine was not looked upon as “hard-core” alcohol. Scientists also opined that there was not enough resveratrol in red wine to make a positive impact on the human body. They said that humans needed to consume 40 bottles of wine daily to get the recommended resveratrol dosage, which was simply not possible.

However, no matter what anyone said, the fact remained that the French people led long and healthy lives despite consuming a high fat diet. The whole of France was and is like a laboratory that’s testing and tasting success with wine and its resveratrol. So, no matter what the studies say, the people all around the world feel what’s good for the French is good enough for them, and therefore, the consumption of resveratrol in wine and supplement form is on the rise.

By the way, Serge Renaud, a scientist from the Bordeux University in France, researched and coined "The French Paradox." Like they say, the guy who discovers and names the miracle gets lost in its glory.