Resveratrol Supplements - Are They as Good as the Hype?

It’s long been a mystery why the French, who eat a diet high in calories and fat, typically live longer and healthier lives than Americans — now we know it may be that they drink so much wine that’s the answer.

This fact isn’t coincidental. Resveratrol is the compound that seems to be the solution to the mystery. This is a compound that a handful of plants produce in the skins of their fruit to fight off bacterial and parasitic fungal infections, and it works by being a powerful anti-oxidant.

The only issue as far as the French Paradox was concerned was that researchers weren’t sure that there was enough resveratrol in the typical French diet for it to be clinically significant.

In nearly all cases in the lab, administering resveratrol produced benefits basically without fail. Mice who got the dosage had more energy, they lived longer and built more lean muscle mass.

But wait, there’s more…

For example, a group of mice who had been genetically engineered to have diabetes had their blood glucose levels moderate to just slight above normal after taking resveratrol.

This wasn’t quite a ‘cure for diabetes’ so to speak, but its effects were pronounced enough that escalated and accelerated human trials were approved.

Of course it couldn’t be long before the internet started to play a part. You’ve probably read the reports written with breathless enthusiasm, touting resveratrol as the wonder drug of the new millennium.

Does it warrant this kind of coverage?

It might. The hype and promises surrounding resveratrol make it pretty hard to live up to. A fairytale fountain of youth doesn’t really exist out here in the real world.

But maybe, when all is said and done, we might all agree that resveratrol is as close as we can get.

So I would think that it’s probably worth looking into, especially considering it only takes a couple minutes. Drug purity laws of course don’t apply to resveratrol or other supplements — they’re not “drugs,” but instead are “nutrional supplements.”

You need to be a little cautious when you buy resveratrol — or any supplement for that matter — to make sure you’re buying a quality product. There is currently no way to organically synthesize resveratrol; it’s all harvested from plants, and that harvesting process takes time and effort. Which means that resveratrol supplements tend to vary in quality, along with their price.

Before you ask, trying to get nutritionally and clinically significant amounts of resveratrol from your food sources is almost impossible – the most concentrated form of resveratrol found in a typical diet is in dark red wine, and you’d have to drink about 3 liters a day of the stuff to get the comparable dose fed to lab mice.

So supplementation is going to have to be the way to go. But how do you choose the right resveratrol supplements in the first place?

Fillers are something you don’t want to see in whatever resveratrol supplement you get. Store your resveratrol supplements in proper conditions, because they can break down if kept in intense heat or very bright light.

The very first thing I would suggest you do is head over to this resveratrol supplements review page, where you’ll find constantly updated reviews. I really like the videos that show how to get the free samples of resveratrol that a lot of companies are giving away. So it’s definitely better than a haphazard trial and error process, and it just might wind up saving you a decent amount of money.

Just to sum up, whichever resveratrol supplements you choose to take, understand that it’s only a part of a health maintenance system. You still need to get adequate amounts of exercise, eat healthy foods, and cut down the stress that’s tearing apart your body.

Don’t take resveratrol expecting it to work miracles on its own. You still have to live a reasonably health lifestyle to experience the true benefits. In other words, don’t abuse your body and expect resveratrol to make it okay.