There are roughly 9,000 research papers published annually in the 75 or so journals dedicated to nutrition. That translates to about two dozen a day. Why is this staggering amount of nutritional research carried out by scientists around the world? The simple answer is so that we can determine what to eat and what not to eat for a healthier, longer life.

The amount of data produced is overwhelming, as is the challenge of filtering out information of practical use. Papers may describe high quality research that comfortably passes peer-review but has dubious real-world application. That raises questions about which studies merit increasingly scarce research funds. A look at two papers, both published in proper peer-reviewed journals, illustrates this point.

The titles of these papers may be off-putting even to people comfortable with science: “Long-term dietary consumption of grapes alters phenotypic expression in skeletal muscle of aged male and female mice” may sound as undecipherable as “Aging modifies the oral microbiome, nitric oxide bioavailability and vascular responses to dietary nitrate supplementation.” Let’s try to demystify.

Both studies deal with aging, which is of interest to everyone because we all do it. Reluctantly. Any help in slowing the process is welcome.

As pointed out in the introduction of the first paper, extensive evidence backs the high consumption of fruits and vegetables to lower the risk of an early death, but what components in these foods are specifically responsible is not clear. Grapes, for example, contain at least 1,600 compounds! One of these, resveratrol, has been hypothesized to have an anti-aging effect based on its ability to neutralize........

© Montreal Gazette