Tannins, Not Resveratrol, Key to Heart Health

Are any of Geezer's gentle readers disappointed to learn that the secret, life-extending element in red wine is not resveratrol, but tannins? Geezer, for one, is pleased, because he's been having some trouble with the spelling of "resveratrol," while with "tannins," he just has to remember the two "n"s . The Scientific American reports on a study of French census data that compared regions that had unusually long-lived men with the wine produced in those areas. The scientists, who were convinced that the amount of resveratrol needed to influence the health of humans was far greater than what could be acquired from drinking wine, found that  the long-lived regions produce local wines that are as much as four times richer in procyanidins (condensed tannins that suppress production of the peptide responsible for hardening arteries) than other wine. Why? Because, Sciam reports, by allowing the grapes to linger on the vine for as long as possible and then leaving them to ferment for as long as four weeks (compared with the more typical one-week period of major wineries, which keeps the level of harsh tannins low), vintners in these regions produce prodigious amounts of procyanidin.
Read more in the Scientific American.