April Flowers for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
The science of health is constantly changing. One day, eggs are bad for you and the next they are not. Or perhaps, last year milk was good for your bones, only too much of it this year will turns out to be harmful. Scientists are constantly updating what foods and supplements are good for us, and which ones aren’t.
The latest supplement to come under fire is resveratrol (RSV), found in the skin of red grapes. Generally, RSV is found in red wine, and has been found to have numerous health benefits such as lowering blood pressure and preventing heart attacks. Ariana Eunjung Cha of the Washington Post reports that the benefits of resveratrol were so well received that companies started selling supplements in health stores as a way to enhance the effects of exercise.
The science behind these supplements has been called into question by a new study published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. The team, led by researcher Brendon Gurd, a professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queens University in Canada, recruited 16 participants and split them into two groups: one took resveratrol supplements and the other took a placebo.
Prior to the study, all participants engaged in three hours or less of aerobic exercise per week. Both groups were subjected to high-intensity interval training (HIT) three times a week for four weeks. The results reveal that rather than helping, RSV might actually be inhibiting the benefits of exercise.
“The easiest way to experience the benefits of physical activity is to be physically active,” Dr. Gurd said in a recent statement. “The efficacy of RSV at improving metabolic and cardiovascular functions is not as profound as was once thought.”
The placebo group showed an increase in some of the benefits associated with physical activity. In contrast, the RSV group didn’t improve at all in physical fitness.
“The results we saw suggest that concurrent exercise training and RSV supplementation may alter the body’s normal training response induced by low-volume HIIT,” wrote Dr. Gurd. “The data set we recorded during this study clearly demonstrates that RSV supplementation doesn’t augment training, but may impair the affect it has on the body.”
Dr. Gurd and his team say that further research is needed to understand the full effects of RSV and exercise.
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