If you watched Barbara Walters' special on longevity last night ("Living to 150...Can You Do It?"), you heard about this amazing molecule called resveratrol, which acts on the genes that play a key role in the aging process. Resveratrol is found naturally in red wine - but the dose you're getting with your nightly glass is probably nowhere near enough to make a difference. So, it's currently being developed into a drug that would deliver the molecule at 1,000 times the concentration. The researchers were able to get some pretty amazing results; I'm rarely stunned by anything these days, but this did it for me.

I was fascinated by this research, but then realized the name of the molecule sounded familiar to me. Aha! I knew where I'd heard it before...in the press materials for a new creme from Estee Lauder. Yep! Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Creme uses Resveratrate, which the company describes as "a more potent, stable and time released form of Resveratrol." Resveratrate was shown by in vitro testing to provide 6 times more protection from environmental damage, more than doubling the survival rate of skin cells.

I'm betting that the topical results aren't nearly as dramatic as what the researcher was able to achieve with the rats (see the video below), but it's still pretty amazing, isn't it?

Unfortunately for me, the Ultimate Youth Creme just didn't get along with my skin; I think it was just too heavy. I've passed it on to my mom - if she gets good results, we'll certainly share them here!

Check out the segment on resveratrol below. Looks like someone just videotaped it from their tv, but it's the best I could find - and definitely worth a look!