Red wine pills touted as miracle health supplements 'undo effects of exercise' warn experts following human trials

(DailyMail) - Health supplements containing the ‘miracle ingredient’ from red wine could undo the positive effects of exercise, experts have warned.

A daily dose of the antioxidant resveratrol cancelled out many of the benefits of a two-month-long exercise programme, a study found.

With exercise alone, blood pressure and levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol and other harmful blood fats were lowered.

But if combined with a course of supplements, most of the positive effects vanished, research published in the Journal of Physiology reports.

Resveratrol has become increasingly popular as study after study has credited the compound with health-boosting properties, from extending life and battling obesity to warding off heart disease and obesity.

However, most research is carried out on mice or rats, rather than in the human body.

Resveratrol, which is found in the grape skins that give red wine its colour, is supposed to boost health by mopping up dangerous oxygen molecules known as free radicals that attack cells and tissues and are blamed for health problems from ageing to cancer.