The Key To Reverse Aging Could Lie In Wine And Dark Chocolate

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Wishing you could wind back the clock and feel like your younger, spry self again? Well, whip out the red wine and fancy dark chocolate with your best ladies tonight, because they could be the answers you’ve been searching for.

According to new research from the University of Exeter and the University of Brighton in the United Kingdom, older human cells can be regenerated when exposed to natural chemicals called resveralogues, which are biologically similar to resveratrol. Resveratrol is a type of natural phenol found in certain plants. It’s used as a self-defense mechanism when the plant is being attacked by pathogens like bacteria or fungus. And it seems to provide a similar reaction in our bodies when it comes to the aging process.

As we get older, proteins called splicing factors naturally grow inactive rather than continue to divide the way that younger cells do. But in this study, every time the splicing factors were exposed to resveralogues, some of the cells in the laboratory culture dish started rejuvenating. Old cells literally looked like young cells all of a sudden. And it happened every time lead researcher Lorna Harries repeated the experiment.

Unsplash/Neven Krcmarek

“[The findings demonstrate] that when you treat old cells with molecules that restore the levels of the splicing factors, the cells regain some features of youth,” Harries told Medical News Today. And these rejuvenating effects actually lasted for several weeks.

The change is noticeable in chromosome telomere length as well, which start long with youth and shorten with age. The resveralogues can even reverse age the proteins in our chromosomes similar to how exercise does.

Luckily, resveratrol naturally exists in some of our favorite foods and beverages — dark chocolate, red wine, peanuts, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and mulberries. And if you just can’t get enough of this fountain of youth, it also comes in supplement form and it’s very low risk when it comes to potential side effects.

So whether you’re focused on avoiding premature aging as a twenty-something or helping your parents and grandparents make health choices that improve their longevity, this is obviously a great day for science. Wine and chocolate, anyone?