London:Eating foods like onions, bananas, rice and cherries, plus drinking red winedaily could slow down ageing process and help you stay young, says a new study.

"Scientists have found melatonin, a substance found ingrape skins protect cell from age-related damage," said the online editionof Daily Mail.

Melatonin is a naturally-occurring hormone not only found ingrape skins but also in a whole range of other foods such as onions, bananas,rice and cherries.

Scientists from the Spanish Ageing Research Network tookgenetically modified mice who suffered accelerated ageing.

The researchers led by Professor Dario Acuna Castroviejo, ofthe University of Granada, Spain, gave the rodents melatonin every day fromfive months of age and found that it helped counteract their age-relatedprocess.

If humans took a daily supplement of melatonin from the ageof 30 or 40 onwards then they too could delay the normal ageing process, thescientists suggest.

The researchers, therefore, recommended that people wantingto fight the ravages of time boost their levels of melatonin through eatingmore foods such as onions, bananas, rice and cherries - plus drinking red wine.

Red wine has long been associated with all kinds of healthbenefits.

Previous studies have suggested that a glass of red wine aday may protect the heart. Other research has also shown it can help reduce therisk of developing some cancers and may even help stave off gum disease.

Melatonin plays a key role in the body clock and has becomewidely used by frequent travellers to try to counteract jet leg.