Resveratrol May Prevent Prostate Cancer

Resveratrol, an antioxidant compound found in grapes, raspberries, peanuts and blueberries, has been shown in animal trials to have potential in helping reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.

In the study resveratrol-fed mice showed an 87 percent reduction in their risk of developing prostate tumors that contained the worst kind of cancer-staging diagnosis. The mice that proved to have the highest cancer-protection effect earned it after seven months of consuming resveratrol in a powdered formula mixed with their food.

Other mice in the study, those fed resveratrol but still developed a less-serious form of prostate cancer, were 48 percent more likely to have their tumor growth halted or slowed when compared to mice who did not consume the compound, the UAB research team said.

How are these data applicable to humans? The researchers are still to test resveratrol consumption in humans to see what concentrations are needed to confer anti-cancer benefits. The amount used in the animal study is equivalent to about a bottle of red wine per day. Obviously, that is not recommended.