Discussion: Forget training, just pop open the bottles.

(From WSJ)

Substance in Red Wine May Help
Muscles to Improve Endurance
By JOHN HECHINGER
November 16, 2006 1:28 p.m.

An ingredient in red wine that has shown promise for slowing aging in obese mice could have another benefit: reprogramming muscles to improve exercise endurance, according to a new study.

The study, published in the Journal Cell, is sure to further stoke interest in resveratrol, a substance in red wine that researchers hope could lead to host of health advances.

The researchers include scientists with Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge, Mass., start-up, that is developing a resveratrol-based drug for diabetics. The Cell research in part confirms some of the finding of earlier study, one of whose main authors was Sirtris's co-founder and was published in the journal Nature.

Both studies use compounds with far higher concentrations of the substance than can be found naturally. A person would have to drink 300 bottles of red wine to achieve the doses given to mice in the Nature study. In the Cell study, the number is more like 1000.

The Cell study subjected mice to a test that ran them to exhaustion on a device that looks like a tiny treadmill. The study found that mice taking resveratrol doubled their endurance. The substance, the study says, "could hence be viewed as a performance-enhancing drug."

The study traces this finding to the stimulation of an enzyme called SIRT1 that spurs the growth of mitochondria, tiny dynamos within cells that produce energy to move muscles as well as many other activities. Researchers also found that the extremely high doses of resveratrol controlled weight gain for mice on high-fat diets. Researchers believe that resveratrol may mimic the effects of eating a diet that severely restricts calorie intake -- a regimen few people are willing to endure.

But many scientists have urged caution about these early studies and whether they will result in breakthroughs for human health that researchers are hoping to achieve. And the safety of taking such large does of resveratrol for humans has yet to be established.

The substance, the study says, "could hence be viewed as a performance-enhancing drug."

Oh crap. Prepare for red wine to get on the WADA list.

so wait in how long of a time period do we need to drink 1000 bottels?
Are we talking days or weeks or months?

So do you start to experience the benefits for a couple hours after drinking a bottle or two, or is it a long-term, constant-intake effect?

While we are on the topic. Does anyone know how much wine you would have to drink before your recovery starts to be retarded? I imagine you can handle a glass of wine a day during heavy training and not feel any effects?

I have wine with dinner 3-4 nights a week. Typically, it's 2 or 3 glasses. I haven't noticed any difference in recovery between the days I do or don't drink. Nor have I noticed any difference between white or red wine, so the resveratrol effect would appear to be minimal.

I'm starting my research tonight.

already in progress

No wonder I love Red Wine :)

I think the performance enhancing effects of drinking 300-1000 bottles of red wine before you race might be overshadowed by other less beneficial effects....

now, if they would make a beer with it, we would be all set, i drink 12-40 beers a weekend depending on whose having the parties.

" So do you start to experience the benefits for a couple hours after drinking a bottle or two, or is it a long-term, constant-intake effect?"
Actually the benefits begin in minutes, people become more talkative, and seem to relax.

There are certain side effects you all should be aware of:

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a w@nker.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell the same boring story over and over again until your friends want to smash your face in.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you to telephone them at 4 in the morning.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell happened to your clothes.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with other members of the opposite sex without spitting.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may cause you to roll over in the morning and see something really scary (whose name, and/or species you can't remember).

Warning: Consumption of alcohol is the leading cause of inexplicable rug burns on the forehead.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may lead to traffic signs and cones appearing in your home.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe you are invisible.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may make you think you possess mystical Kung-Fu powers.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that people are laughing with you.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may cause an influx in the time-space continuum, whereby small (and sometimes large) gaps of time may seem to literally disappear.

Warning: Consumption of alcohol may actually cause pregnancy.

but it worth it, no matter how risky it is

So will all alcohol be benificial or are we talking just red wine.
Surlythe enzym must be found in another tasty bevrage.
Lithuanian Vodka does not contain performance enhancing drugs as was discovered by many at JWOC this year both during and after the event.

I agree with that last statement... Lithuanian Vodka absolutly does not help your performance the day after consumption... But it sure did something on the night of consumption, I don't remember what though... As for K.I.S.S. the cheap but not so tasty pear cider... it seamed to have the same effect but left you with the most discusting burps while you ran...

Shamus did beat us after drinking half a liter the night before the long. So mabey it is the secret to going faster.

If I were an obese mouse all this might be relevant, but I'm not so it isn't. Too bad.