It’s a tipple that many of us enjoy indulging in, and now it seems that even explorers on Mars will be able to treat themselves to a glass of red wine.
A new study by researchers from Harvard Medical School has revealed that a chemical in red wine could help Mars explorers to ‘stay strong’ while on the red planet.
In space, muscles and bones weaken as there’s no gravity to challenge them.
Dr Marie Mortreux, who led the study, explained: “After just 3 weeks in space, the human soleus muscle shrinks by a third. This is accompanied by a loss of slow-twitch muscle fibers, which are needed for endurance.”
In the study, the researchers found that the chemical, called resveratrol, preserved muscle mass and strength in rats, even in zero gravity.
“Resveratrol has been shown to preserve bone and muscle mass in rats during complete unloading, analogous to microgravity during spaceflight.
“So, we hypothesised that a moderate daily dose would help mitigate muscle deconditioning in a Mars gravity analogue, too.”
In the study, the researchers exposed 24 rats to either Earth or Mars conditions for 14 days.
Half of the rats in each received resveratrol in water, while the others got just the water.
The researchers measured the rats’ calf size and paw grip weekly, and analysed the calf muscles at the end of the 14 days.
As expected, the rats in the Mars condition had weakened grip strength and their calfs shrank during the study.
But rats that received resveratrol had almost entirely normal grip strength, and had reduced loss of slow-twitch muscle fibres.
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