A bottle of Chateau Le Pin may be just the thing for people who lead a sedentary lifestyle, a new study has suggested.

The health benefits of a compound found in red wine called resveratrol have long been debated by medical researchers, with studies indicating that it may stave off skin cancer, act as an anti-inflammatory agent and even extend lifespans.

Now a study at published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal claims resveratrol can slow the negative impacts of sedentary lifestyles, including loss of bone mineral density and insulin resistance.

Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of FASEB, said this does not mean that red wine is a "substitute for exercise", but it could slow the deterioration of people who are temporarily unable to keep active.

"There are overwhelming data showing that the human body needs physical activity, but for some of us, getting that activity isn’t easy,” he said.