Resveratrol builds spinal bone in obese men

Resveratrol builds spinal bone in obese men

 It was once thought that the extra gut weight in obese individuals built stronger bones – it’s actually just the opposite. Obesity weakens bones increasing the risk of bone fracture. Obese people are generally inflamed and this is related to the release of cytokines (inflammation related messengers from the immune system). These cytokines are related to the additional fat cells on the belly and also to the change in microbial balance in the intestines of overweight people. The friendly probiotic bacteria suffer and die off in overweight people and cytokine releasing bacteria move in and thrive contributing to inflammation. This inflammation is one of the connections between obesity and diabetes and the connection between obesity and bone loss.

In this study researchers from Aarhus University Hospital gave Resveratrol to obese middle-aged men over a 16 week period. Some of the men received placebo. Bone alkaline phosphatase is on the exterior of bone building cells and its concentration in the blood increases during periods of active bone building. In this study, the higher the dosage of Resveratrol, the greater the level of bone alkaline phosphatase. There was a relation ship to higher dosages of Resveratrol and greater bone building activity. Bone strength actually improved dramatically over this short period with a 2.6% improvement in the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine of the men on Resveratrol compared to the men on placebo. The study is published in the October 16th, 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.