Higher dietary intake of resveratrol lowers hip fracture risk: Chinese study

Researchers from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou conducted a study among Chinese elderly to find out if there is an association between habitual resveratrol consumption with hip fracture risk.

They conducted a 1:1 age and gender matched case-control study with a total of 2,140 elderly people. Their average age was 70.6 years old, with a BMI of 22.5kg/m2.

The participants were then required to fill in a dietary survey consisting of 79 items.

Their habitual intake of resveratrol was then estimated as the sum of trans-and cis-resveratrol and trans-and cis-piceid based on the available database of Phenol Explorer.

Survey results showed that their average total resveratrol intake was 178.6μg per day and 96.6% did not have the habit of drinking red wine – a rich source of resveratrol.

Specifically, for elderly who are from the highest quartile group for resveratrol consumption, their risk of hip fracture was reduced by 80.2% as compared with those from the lowest quartile group.

In addition, consumption of grapes – another source of resveratrol, reduced the risk of hip fracture by 46.7% for elderly coming from across the quartiles, validating that there is a positive link between resveratrol and lower hip fracture risk.

“Our findings indicated that higher dietary RSV was associated with a reduced risk of hip fracture in Chinese elderly. ​

“As dietary intake of RSV is modifiable, this finding would be of public health importance with respect to fracture prevention in elderly,”​ the researchers said.

This findings add on to earlier in vitro and animal experiments which suggested that resveratrol could improve bone health by alleviation of bone mineral and strength loss.

Other factors ​

Taking into the account of other factors, the association between resveratrol intake and lower risk of hip fracture remains valid across genders and other factors such as different BMI.

“Subgroup analyses indicated that the findings were consistent across gender (men and women), BMI (below or above median), physical activities (below or above median), supplementation of calcium (yes or no), as well as habitual tea drinking (yes or no),”​ the researchers pointed out.

The finding is also consistent amongst elderly with chronic disorders, since excluding them from the study made little change to the results.

Source: Current Developments in Nutrition

Higher Dietary Intake of Resveratrol Was Associated with Lower Risk of Hip Fracture- a 1:1 Matched Case-control Study in Chinese Elderly ​

DOI: 10.1093/cdn/nzz028.OR18-07-19​

Authors: Zhaomin Liu and Yu-ming Chen