What is Resveratrol ?
When I started doing research on resveratrol, a polpyphenic compound mostly found in grapes and red wine, it was hard to know what to focus on. There is a large amount of studies on this plant compound and its effect on preventing cancer, repairing organ injury, prolonging cell life and much more. It just shows the great scientific interest in understanding resveratrol and the hope that its medical benefits will translate from animal studies to human trials.
In nature, resveratrol protects plants from stress, injury, infection and ultraviolet radiation. And, in 1992, scientists claimed that it was cause for the “French Paradox,” where the French have a diet high in fat and smoke more cigarettes than Americans, but are have a lower mortality rate from coronary artery disease. It was believed that drinking red wine was the basis for this phenomenon and it is now recommended that one drink a moderate amount of red wine to reduce the risk of heart disease . And, although the studies done on the paradox were inconsistent, it increased the interest in resveratrol and led to the funding of further testing.
What is Resveratrol Good For?
Through in vitro animal testing, it has been found that resveratrol reduces the formation of blood clots, which can reduce the risk stroke, artherosclerosis and hopefully coronary artery disease in adults. In test tubes and in rats, resveratrol has been shown to prohibit the formation of cancer cells, as well as stop the progression of cancerous cells . Studies show that it prevents the progression of Parkinson’s disease in rats and protects the intestinal lining of mice from colitis. And, resveratrol has increased the lifespan of yeast, worms, fruit flies and fish on high calories diets.
But, the main question is can the positive effects of resveratrol animal studies be translated to humans? Resveratrol is well absorbed by humans but it is quickly metabolized and eliminated. And, humans will need much more resveratrol than present in red wine and resveratrol supplements to achieve the same success as the animal trials. Hopefully, scientists can implement safe and effective human trials of resveratrol before the interest and funding decline. We don’t need another Research Paradox. Above, you will find a safe and highly recommended resveratrol supplement.
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If you drink plenty of red wine and eat lots of peanut butter, you could get enough resveratrol, but then you’d probably gain weight from all the extra calories. Not to mention the problem with drinking a LOT of red wine. One researcher said it would take over 300 glasses of wine per day to equal the amount of resveratrol fed to the obese mice in the study.