The scientists demonstrated that the resveratrol, found in red wine, peanuts, blackberries, and chocolate, was able to correct hormone levels in 30 patients with PCOS. It is a common condition among women of childbearing age, and symptoms can begin with the first period or in young adult women. In such patients, the ovaries produce huge amounts of male sex hormones such as testesterone, which lead to consequences like weight gain, missed periods, acne, and excess hair on the face and body.
Based on the hormonal blood levels recorded at the beginning and the end of the study, the researchers noted a 23.1 per cent reduction in testosterone levels among women who took the resveratrol supplement for 3 months. Also, patients who took a placebo saw their testosterone levels increase by 2.9 per cent. The scientists, at the end of the tests, realised that the polyphenol also played an important role against diabetes. Over the three-month trial, the women who took resveratrol became more responsive to insulin.
It is thus, suggested that resveratrol can improve the body's ability to use insulin and reduce the risk of developing diabetes. Published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the study also revealed that the resveratrol brought about a 22.2 per cent reduction in the level of DHEAS, another hormone that the body converts into testosterone.
