Why drinking red wine helps keep pensioners steady on their feet

Red wine isn’t usually associated with being steady on your feet.
But a ‘miracle ingredient’ in it could have that effect on pensioners, scientists claim.
They say that resveratrol, which is already credited with a host of health benefits from cutting cholesterol to warding off cancer, boosts balance and improves mobility. In tests, old mice that were given the plant chemical for a few weeks became just as sprightly as young animals. If resveratrol has similar effects on the human body, it could help prevent the painful falls and fractures from which many pensioners struggle to recover.
Falls are one of the leading causes of death in the over-75s, and half of elderly women die within two years of a fall. The US researchers said: ‘Our study suggests that a natural compound like resveratrol, which can be obtained through dietary supplementation or diet itself, could actually decrease some of the motor deficiencies that are seen in our ageing population. That would therefore increase an ageing person’s quality of life and decrease their risk of hospitalisation due to slips and falls.’ The researchers, from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, fed resveratrol to young and old mice for eight weeks and regularly tested their ability to walk along a rodent-sized beam.

Source  - Daily Mail