Astronauts could soon enjoy red wine in space – report

According to a recent report in LiveScience, researchers have found that one of the ingred-ients in red wine, called resveratrol, has shown promise pro-tecting against the bone density loss and insulin resistance that can be side effects of flying in space.

The researchers at the University of Strasbourg found that red wine, which contains several health beneficial antioxidants, could help prevent the ill-effects of prolonged weightlessness on the human body.

Astronauts who have to spend their journey in space on a strict diet regime may soon have the liberty to enjoy a glass or two of red wine, as it may be good for their health, scientists say.

The finding is based on a study of rats held upside down to simulate weightlessness. The rats fed resveratrol did not develop the adverse symptoms of the other group.

“For the first time, we report a simple countermeasure that prevents the deleterious adaptations of the major physiological functions affected by mechanical unloading,” the researchers wrote in a paper published in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

“Resveratrol could thus be envisaged as a nutritional countermeasure for spaceflight but remains to be tested in humans,” they wrote.

The researchers said their findings could apply not just to astronauts but to sedentary people on the ground who can experience some of these problems simply from not moving around enough.

“There are overwhelming data showing that the human body needs physical activity, but for some of us, getting that activity isn’t easy,” the editor-in-chief of the journal, said in a statement.

“A low gravity environment makes it nearly impossible for astronauts. For the earthbound, barriers to physical activity are equally challenging, whether they be disease, injury or a desk job. Resveratrol may not be a substitute for exercise, but it could slow deterioration until someone can get moving again.”