Resveratrol Increases Metabolic Rate in Monkeys

It has become relatively silent around resveratrol in the past months. Many of its purported health benefits turned out to be less pronounced than early studies suggested and the availability of cheap high-quality supplements is still low. A new study published in BMC Physiology 2010, 10:11 (Dal-Pan. 09 July 2010) did however find a significant effect of resveratrol supplementation at 200 mg/kg/day on the body weight gain of grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus) during the winter month. The researchers found "a decreasing energy intake by 13% and increasing resting metabolic rate by 29%". The reduced weight gain may thus in parts be ascribed to the anorexic effect of resveratrol supplementation. Of greater importance is yet the finding that ...

"resveratrol activates energy expenditure by inducing an increase in resting metabolic rate and a decrease in torpor patterns that play key roles in energy saving in this primate."

So before you "fatten up" in the winter months - go get yourself some high-quality resveratrol ;-) Jokes aside, in how far these results may be extrapolated to human beings is questionable, because grey mouse lemurs are non-human primates and thus hardly more reliable models than rats, for which this effect of resveratrol has long been established.