Cecily O'Connor
RedwoodAge.com

Want the health benefits of red wine without the wine? Nutritional supplement companies are generating a buzz among baby boomers who want to improve their health without boosting calories or consuming alcohol.

While the benefits of a daily glass of red wine have long been touted, more people have been raising their glasses after researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging reported last fall that resveratrol - a chemical found in red wine - led to longer lives while countering the negative effects of a high-calorie diet in mice. 

Interest in red wine skyrocketed. The Neilson Company reported that sales of red wine grew 40 percent faster than total table wine sales for the five months ended in March. 

Several supplement makers have been cashing in on the craze. The latest, Resmed Nutraceuticals, will roll out a national marketing campaign next week for Resmedin, a capsule that contains resveratrol, grape seed extract, quercetin and whole red wine extract, all of which are powerful antioxidants found in red wine, according to marketing director David LaFrance.

"We think it's going to be a good market, and (expect it) will continue to grow in this country and overseas," said LaFrance. 

Of course, taking too many vitamins and supplements can be harmful to boomers' health, according to the results of several studies. For example, researchers noted an absence of folic acid in patients with colon polyps, and they hoped that the supplement might help fight the disease. Instead, they found high doses of folic acid may actually increase the risk of developing the growths, according to the latest Journal of the American Medical Association. A separate study linked heavy vitamin use to fatal prostate cancer, and other research has found beta-carotene pills can increase smokers' risk of lung cancer.

Supplements aren't cheap, either. Resmedin costs $39.95 for a 30-day supply. It joins a budding market for red wine supplements. Other brands include Revatrol, which was introduced in October of 2005 and sells for $29.99. Meanwhile, drug stores like Walgreen's sell variations, including a product from Nature's Bounty that's made of resveratrol red wine extract plus grape seed and and vitamin C. Sixty capsules are priced at $8.99. 

A Supplement Minefield
"It's a minefield out there," said James DiGeorgia, chief executive officer of Renaissance Health Publishing, the maker of Revatrol, which reported $4.2 million in sales for its red wine supplement in 2006. 

How much resveratrol is actually needed? Human testing has yet to be done, but the doses in supplements are far in excess of a glass of wine. A Resmedin capsule can supply 200 mg of resveratrol, the equivalent of up to 500 glasses of red wine, while Revatrol provides 100 mg of resveratrol. Both contain several other ingredients that the companies claim have various beneficial effects.  

"We will report on studies on resveratrol," said LaFrance. "The promise there is gigantic, but until the actual human testing is completed, no one really knows what the long term benefits are going to be."

DiGeorgia urged consumers to be cautious when shopping for red wine supplements by checking ingredients. "Look for a breakdown of what you're taking, and not a blend or a proprietary formula that doesn't give you specifics of what's in there," he said, noting the Revatrol "formula" contains 100 milligrams each of resveratrol, alpha lipoic acid, acetyl l-carnitine and quercetin.