More Mice than Tummy

These images provided by the National Institutes of Health shows 15-month-old mice, top, from left, on a standard diet, a high calorie diet, and high calorie diet plus the wine extract resveratrol. Bottom photo, from left, on a high calorie diet, a standard diet, and high calories diet plus the wine extract resveratrol. (AP Photo/National Institutes of Health, Doug Hansen)

I have to raise my glass in a toast to this news from the AP:

Obese mice on a high-fat diet got the benefits of being thin — living healthier, longer lives — without the pain of dieting when they consumed huge doses of red wine extract, according to a landmark new study.

It's far too early to know if this would work in people, scientists said. But several were excited by the findings, calling it promising and even "spectacular."

The study by the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging shows that heavy doses of the red wine ingredient, resveratrol, lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems and other fat-related ill effects in obese mice.

All the benefits of being thin without the annoyingly difficult being thin part! And all you have to do is drink red wine. Where can I sign up for that pilot study? (Or perhaps I'm a scientist working quietly on my own and I don't even know it.)

I guess I also better be sure to stay off really sticky paper and avoid cheese on spring-loaded serving platters, too.