Why Red Wine and Dark Chocolate Might Actually Help You Look Younger

Could your favorite duo actually be the key to looking and feeling younger?

We’ve heard it debated time and time again: Is dark chocolate really a superfood? Is drinking red wine actually good for me? And we totally get it—who wouldn’t want chocolate and wine to be labeled “healthy”?

Well, we’ve got some good news for you wine and chocolate lovers. A recent study in the BMC Cell Biology journal linked resveratrol—a compound found in foods like dark chocolate, blueberries and red wine—to cell repair.

When researchers at the University of Exeter and Brighton added resveratrol to old cells, within hours, the cells began to self-repair, divide and were found to have longer telomeres (the protective ends on DNA strands related to longevity). Literally, the cells began to revert to looking and acting like younger cells.

But don’t pour yourself a second glass of Cabernet in celebration just yet. Nutritionist Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., CNS notes that while this study has observed the positive effects of resveratrol on elderly cells, “you’d have to ingest ridiculous amounts of wine or chocolate, which is both impractical and undesirable,” to get the desired effect.

However, if you’re going to indulge in a little dessert, perhaps you should consider reaching for something sweet that might help your cells look and feel a little bit younger. And hey, why not pair your square of chocolate with a nice glass of red wine—just don’t forget to toast your youth!

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Photo credit: bhofack2, Thinkstock