Weighed down after a week of feasting? Resveratrol, a plant compound found in grapes and red wine, could be your ticket to a speedier recovery (at least for your cells). A 2014 animal study published in the Journal of Food Science showed that resveratrol may have helped protect against the damaging effects of a high-fat diet. For the study, researchers fed mice a high-fat diet for 20 weeks, with or without resveratrol. Feeding mice a high-fat diet without resveratrol led to oxidative stress and inflammation; feeding mice a high-fat diet with resveratrol led to significantly less regulatory T-cell (Treg) death and an increase in the production and function of Treg mitochondria. Tregs are an important part of the immune system, and mitochondria are cells’ energy producers. The results of the study are consistent with previous animal research, which has also found that resveratrol can protect against the negative effects of a high-fat diet.

Source: Journal of Food Science