You Have Asked, What is Resveratrol?

What is resveratrol?  What is it good for?  How does it work?  What is the appropriate resveratrol dosage for specific age groups?  Are there any known side effects?  You will learn the answers to these questions here.

What is resveratrol and where is it found? 

It is a chemical compound present in a small number of plants.  Small quantities are found in red grape skins and the root of medicinal plant called Japanese knotweed.  To a lesser extent, it can be found in boiled peanuts, blueberries and bilberries.  It has been detected in grape and cranberry juice, as well.  But, the largest concentration, as far as common foods and beverages go, is found in Spanish red wine.

There is no widely agreed upon resveratrol dosage.  Natural health experts vary on their opinions.  The mainstream medical community simply suggests that you drink a glass or two of red wine, every day.  Since that would provide a maximum of 26mg, a reasonable amount for dietary supplementation would be between 20 and 50mg, depending on a person’s age.  An older person, for example, might want to take the higher resveratrol dosage.

What is resveratrol good for and how does it work?

It actually appears to have several functions in cells and animal models.  It is difficult to study its activity in the human body, because the expected benefits are long term, not short term. 

It has been shown to extend the lifespan of yeast, worms, fruit flies and some types of fish.  It has been shown to counteract the negative affects of a high fat diet in mice.  It is said to act like a “calorie restriction mimetic”.  But, the exact resveratrol dosage needed to produce these effects in humans is unknown. 

What is resveratrol, when referring to a calorie restriction mimetic? 

Researchers have shown that restricting the caloric intake of laboratory animals allows them to live longer.  It is believed that humans, too, live longer when they consume fewer calories on a daily basis.  There are some nutrients and plant chemicals that “mimic” the effect of a low calorie diet.  Resveratrol is one of them.  Alpha lipoic acid and carnosine are two of the others.

Specialty supplements designed to delay and counter the affects of aging include an appropriate resveratrol dosage (20-50mg), 50mg of alpha lipoic acid, 50-150mg of carnosine and a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and natural anti-inflammatories.  This type of supplement is not something that you’ll find on a shelf in your local drugstore. 

A couple of studies have been in the news lately concerning the lack of benefit associated with taking a daily multi-vitamin.  That’s not really surprising considering that most people take the popular brands or generics.  The vitamins used in those supplements are not the naturally occurring ones.  They are synthetics, not real.  Why anyone would think that taking a synthetic vitamin would be good for you is beyond me. 

When you shop for supplements, shop for natural ones.  Now, you know what is resveratrol, but be sure that it is the natural form.  Scientists have learned how to synthesize it, too. If you have two minutes to spare, please take a look at my website now.