It is the season to be jolly and as you get through your fair share of red wine over this festive period you may be thinking that it will be detrimental to your health, but within wine there is a hidden gem that can be key to a long and healthy life.

Now obviously over indulging in alcohol can be bad for your health, but the key to the health benefits that can be unlocked in red wine is hidden inside red grapes. It is in an antioxidant called Resveratrol.

Resveratrol may not be one of the main ingredients on your Christmas menu but it is an important part of the Mediterranean diet, which is well known for its association with long life, low rates of cancer and heart disease and general well-being.

And if you like a few peanuts with your glass of wine they also include a dose of the health enhancing Resveratrol Antioxidant, so why not indulge a little this Christmas?

Now you might be wondering what an antioxidant is and what it does. Well, antioxidants are molecules that inhibit oxidisation. This is a chemical process that occurs as part of the damage and ageing process in animal and plant cells.

Studies into the compound have been carried out in mice and show that when they had Resveratrol in their system they lived for longer.

Due to all of these findings resveratrol is touted as a great natural anti-aging product. Ageing is scientifically defined as a gradual process of cell damage and destruction and resveratrol slows this process down in the body. This effectively means that people who regularly have Resveratrol will stay younger and healthier for longer.

It has also been suggested that the French love of Resveratrol rich red wine has been one of the main contributors to giving the French long life expectancy and low rates of heart disease despite a diet high in saturated fat. So maybe all you wine drinkers will feel a little bit better about tucking into your Christmas dinner now.

If you don't like red wine then Resveratrol can come in a range of different supplements, some of which are up to one thousand times more effective than red wine at delivering the antioxidant into the body. The advantage of the supplement form is that it allows the body to receive sufficiently high levels of the active form of Resveratrol (trans-resveratrol) to be effective, in convenient capsules or creams that fit around an active lifestyle. Also, time-release preparations are now a reality, with Transmax being the first product that releases resveratrol over a controlled period to maximise its benefits to the body.

Whether you drink red wine or not, Resveratrol is of great benefit to your body and has the potential to cure or suppress certain medical problems. And if you're looking to start the New Year with a healthy lifestyle then Resveratrol supplements will offer a less boozy and altogether healthier alternative to a few glasses of red!

About the Author

James Betz - Managing Director of Biotivia.

Biotivia established 1992 in Vienna it is the first company to dramatically improve the bioavailability of its products, especially its resveratrol and polyphenol-based products. Low bioavailability of many antioxidants is a common problem, which the company's scientists have succeeded in overcoming without resorting to synthetic additives or lowering the product dosage.

RESVERATROL! ABC News, incredible antiageing substance found in red wine