Grape Compound Enhances Exercise Performance

Resveratrol is an antioxidant compound found abundantly in red grapes and red wine, for which a number of cardiovascular and cognitive health benefits have been suggested. Jason R. B. Dyck, from the University of Alberta (Canada), and colleagues have observed that high doses of the resveratrol improve physical performance, heart function and muscle strength in lab models. Finding that endurance capacity is enhanced in rats whose diet includes resveratrol during a 12 week endurance-training program, and that the increased endurance was associated with increases in skeletal muscle force, cardiac function, and oxidative metabolism, the study authors report that: “Our results establish that resveratrol is an effective ergogenic aid that enhances exercise performance over exercise alone.”