Red wine can keep you young, scientists have found.

Studies have revealed that one of its ingredients, resveratrol, slows ageing of the heart, bones, eyes and muscles.

Mice fed the plant compound had stronger bones, better balance and co-ordination, and healthier hearts than animals not given the compound.

They were also less likely to develop cataracts in their eyes.

But the plant chemical, found in the skin of red grapes, did not help the mice to live longer unless they had been fed a high calorie diet.

Earlier research suggested that resveratrol mimics the effects of calorie restriction, which has been shown to extend the lives of yeast, worms, flies and fish.

Resveratrol influences a whole series of diseases associated with ageing.

Dr David Sinclair

Resveratrol has also improved both the health and survival of obese mice fed a high-calorie diet.

Significant amounts of the compound are found in red, but not white wine.

Resveratrol has been suggested as one explanation for the “French Paradox” – the fact that in parts of France where saturated fat consumption is high, people still have low levels of heart disease.

A major finding was that resveratrol prevented the usual age-related decline of heart and arteries in the mice.

Dr David Sinclair, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, one of the international team of researchers whose findings are reported in the journal Cell Metabolism, said: “I was most surprised by how broad the effects were in the mice.

“Usually, you focus on slowing down or ameliorating one disease at a time. In this case, resveratrol influences a whole series of seemingly unrelated diseases associated with ageing.”

Via news.sky.com