wine and diabetes

We resume the count up to 101 healthy reasons to drink wine, to launch the second edition of Age Gets Better with Wine due out August 17 from the Wine Appreciation Guild.
60. Resveratrol from wine has insulin-like effects, according to a study from Taiwan. In a study of diabetic lab rats, they found that resveratrol was effective at lowering blood sugar and fats such as triglycerides. Further, it delayed the onset of insulin resistance, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes.
61. Resveratrol slows memory loss associated with diabetes, at least in lab rats. The infamous maze test of memory was used, with better retention among the rats given resveratrol.
62. Another manifestation of diabetes is called peripheral neuropathy, in which the nerves lose function. This results in loss of sensation and other problems. Resveratrol appears to offer some protection against diabetic neuropathy, at least in a lab model. (Like the actions listed above, this has not been tested or proven in humans using resveratrol supplements.)
63. One of the most serious complications of diabetes is stiffening of the arteries, leading to imparied circulation. Resveratrol, in a lab experiment, helped maintain supple arteries in diabetic animal subjects.
64. Perhaps most serious of all the conditions related to diabetes is loss of contractile function of heart muscle cells. Of course the reason I bring this up is because, again in a lab animal model, resveratrol slows this weakening of the heart.

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