It is found naturally in some food and wines and now doctors say in supplement form it may turn on longevity genes with a side benefit of weight loss. So, is it a miracle or myth?

It has created a buzz in the research world. Could a substance found in red grapes, peanuts, dark chocolate, red wine and blueberries hold a key to living longer, feeling better, fighting cancer and being thinner? Some scientists and doctors think so.

"We find that resveratrol is the best molecule we know of to increase healthy lifespan and the mice end up being resistant to  diseases of aging like diabetes, cancer, heart disease and can even run twice as far on a treadmill," says Dr. David Sinclair, a biologist and pathologist at Harvard Medical School.

"People are actually feeling more energetic, being able to walk farther, often times especially older people  can extend their walks, which is really great sense of well being, sleeping better, less aches and pains,” says Dr. Jamie McManus, a clinical research director at the Shaklee  Company.

This research biologist and family physician are representing the makers of Vivix, a cellular anti-aging tonic that they say in one teaspoon has the same amount of resveratrol equal to 100 glasses of red wine.  Added in is a powerful antioxidant called polyphenol in the form of an extract from the muscadine grape.  It is a high concentration you couldn't get from eating normal amounts of food and together they say in the lab works on four mechanisms of aging in our cells.

And they say there is another effect.

"The mice lost weight and they looked much better, you could really tell the difference between the mouse that was taking resveratrol and the control animal," adds Dr. Sinclair. 

All the other experts we talked with say, yes, there does seem to be promise with resveratrol for anti-aging, but they don't think we are there yet because science lacks the studies on humans. And for weight loss they think, if at all, it's an indirect result. 

“I think it's promising but I think we have a long way to go, but not for weight loss. Don't eat the grape seed pill for weight loss, it might make you feel better.  It does have these principles that get rid of the oxidative damage from eating the unhealthy foods or from just everyday toxins in the air, so it's probably going to make you feel better, then maybe make you want to exercise more. I mean that's a reason to try the grape seed," says Melinda Sothern, a professor of Public Health at LSU Health Sciences Center.

"If you're taking safe doses and everything seems to be okay. Is that a problem if that's going to help you exercise and do more physical activity? I don't view that as a negative.  But from a pure scientific standpoint, there is no data to conclusively say that it actually works," says  Dr. Kim Edward LeBlanc, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center. 

"I'm not sure I see a direct correlation to weight loss, but I'll tell you where I think it's going to come when it is shown.  Remember these words that Mackie said it: ‘I think it's going to have a profound effect on mitochondrial function,’" says Fitness expert Mackie Shilstone of East Jefferson General Hospital.

The mitochondria that Mackie is talking about are the tiny power packs of each cell. When you're young you have lots of them, as we get older we lose them they become weak and inactive, making us lose energy and become susceptible to getting ill.

"Now if you improve mitochondrial function, you make the muscle more effective, that being the heart muscle, that being the biceps, the triceps during your exercise you will be actually more efficient.  In theory, I think this will improve stamina and I think will improve strength," adds Shilstone.

"This particular molecule seems to be able to turn off and on, sort of change the activity of different genes in our body that regulate things like obesity. It really looks to regulate how the little energy storehouses in our cells work. So not only does it  have an effect on obesity  but it  does seem to have an effect on aging and  it seems to have an effect on some cancers as well," says Dr. Henri Roca in the Department of Family and Integrative Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center.

But without conclusive human studies doctors don't know how much can help or how much would not only hurt you, but interact in a bad way with the medications you are taking.

"There 's a lot of potential for this in the future.  It's just when you get up to such high levels, pharmaceutical levels, that we really need to have safety data associated with it," adds Dr. Roca. 

And Vivix, Dr. Roca believes at 1390 milligrams a teaspoon is a very high, untested level in humans so far. So he recommends, if you take it, cutting that in more than half taking no more than 500 milligrams a day and avoiding it completely if you are taking important prescriptions or if you're pregnant.

Still the scientists behind Vivix stand by their product.

"What we see is resveratrol just like exercise is really effective at boosting the number and activity of these mitochondria within cells. The good news is that  resveratrol has been in human clinical trials already and the results there been positive that we're seeing the same metabolic physiological effects that we saw in the mice translating into people,” says Dr. Sinclair.

So look for more answers as doctors learn more in the next few years.

Resveratrol has also been shown to reduce inflammation which in some studies has been associated with obesity.

(If you are being treated for obesity or cancer, check with your doctor about taking this supplement. For more, click on links on 4 on this website.  Remember you can also watch all of Meg's previous Weight Loss Wednesday and Wrinkle Free Friday stories there, as well. www.bigeasywellness.com)