The Full-Body Health Supplement
This natural supplement fights against just about everything trying to shorten your life. Here's where to get it.
You've heard that the resveratrol in red wine makes your heart work better. It's true, but the alcohol in that same wine might inhibit resveratrol's beneficial effects on heart health and longevity. For example, you'd have to drink 144 bottles of wine to get an effective dose of resveratrol. Don't do that.
As for longevity, resveratrol is a "calorie restriction mimetic." It causes the body to react in the same way it would if you severely restrict calorie intake. Specifically, both resveratrol and calorie restriction activate certain proteins (SIRT) that extend lifespan through several mechanisms. But resveratrol does a lot more than that.
What is Resveratrol?
It's a polyphenol, but more specifically, it's a phytoalexin – an antimicrobial compound produced by plants in response to internal and external stresses. For example, grapes contain a lot of resveratrol because they're almost always under fungal attack. They make resveratrol so they can survive to fulfill their chardonnay or merlot destinies.
Grapes and some other plants also manufacture resveratrol in response to mechanical injury or excess UV irradiation. It's like the plants have their own defense system.
Fortunately for humans, these protective and healing properties can be transferred to us simply by ingesting resveratrol. More specifically, resveratrol exhibits anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, cardioprotective, vasorelaxant, phytoestrogenic, and neuroprotective attributes in humans.
What Resveratrol Does
- Free Radical Scavenging and Antioxidant Effects: The most often touted benefit of resveratrol is its ability to act as a potent antioxidant. Just as it protects plants from excess UV radiation, it also protects animal cells against UV-irradiation-induced cell death.
- Effects On Sex Hormones: When given resveratrol, male rats exhibited increased testosterone levels, probably through increased activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. In other studies, resveratrol blocks the enzyme (aromatase) that makes estrogen. It also binds to estrogen receptors, but much less tightly than estrogen. Because of this ability, it may increase estrogen-like activity when estrogen levels are low and decrease it when it's too high. Beyond that, this aromatase-blocking power can increase testosterone levels in humans by preventing testosterone from being converted to estrogen or estradiol.
- Muscle Growth: Resveratrol blocks protein degradation and enhances certain muscle-building pathways. It also increases muscle strength and aerobic performance.
- Anticancer Effects: Resveratrol hates cancer. It's been shown, at least in animal experiments and in vitro, to inhibit all its stages, from initiation to promotion and progression. Research shows that it acts as a "chemoprotective" agent and displays chemotherapeutic properties associated with its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-proliferative, and pro-apoptosis (it causes cancer cells to kill themselves) properties. Specifically, resveratrol shows great promise in combating colon, cervical, prostate, breast, and lung cancers.
- Cardioprotective Effects: Diabetic rat studies show that resveratrol can restore ventricular function by reducing inflammation and "decreasing unfavorable modeling of the diabetic heart." The compound also significantly reduces blood glucose, body weight, triglyceride levels, heart rate, and other cardiovascular risk factors, along with reducing blood pressure by dilating blood vessels. It also helps build capillary bridges to reestablish and maintain blood flow to the heart when arteries need a little help.
- Neuroprotective Effects: Neurodegenerative impairments such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's, and ALS are devastating, but resveratrol plays several neuroprotective roles against them. This is probably because of resveratrol's anti-inflammatory and antioxidant powers and its ability to improve mitochondrial function.
- Antimicrobial Activity: Resveratrol positively stomps on Candida albicans, in addition to 11 other Candida species. It also shows disdain for Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria in general.
- Anti-Aging: Resveratrol first gained prominence because of its alleged life-extending properties, and the subsequent research hasn't done anything to damage or disprove that theory. As mentioned, resveratrol mimics calorie restriction, which increases lifespan in animals. It also induces "autophagy," which is how organs and cells "clean house." It's literally a system by which an organism disposes of cells that aren't functioning well.
- Bone Health: Although unproven, resveratrol is thought to synergize with vitamin D and vitamin K2, thus increasing bone mineralization.
- Hearing Loss and Eye Health: Excess noise increases free radical production, which can lead to hearing loss. Experiments show that resveratrol protects against hearing loss by both mopping up these free radicals and improving blood flow to the ears. Ophthalmologists are also excited by resveratrol because the substance could prevent age-related eye diseases like glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration. Furthermore, it could protect the eyes from environmental factors like UV light, cigarette smoke, and air pollution.
Resveratrol Sounds Great. What's the Catch?
Once ingested, the cells that line the intestines soak up resveratrol. No problem there. Unfortunately, under normal circumstances, that's when the trouble begins.
Resveratrol has a complex structure and a high molecular weight, so only about 12% of it reaches the bloodstream and body tissues – hardly enough to reap the benefits. To really benefit from resveratrol, you need to overcome its poor solubility and low bioavailability. One way to accomplish that is to do what Biotest did and combine it with medium-chain triglycerides, or MCT.
MCT, when combined with resveratrol (and other lipophilic polyphenol compounds), increases resveratrol's gastrointestinal tract stability, which ultimately translates to better bioavailability.
Each softgel of Biotest's Rez-V (Buy at Amazon) provides 300 mg. of highly pure resveratrol. Take two daily for best results.
References
- Delmas D et al. "New Highlights of Resveratrol: A Review of Properties Against Ocular Diseases." Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Feb;22(3):1295.
- Meng T et al. "Anti-inflammatory Action and Mechanisms of Resveratrol." Molecules. 2021 Jan;26(1):229.
- Salehi B et al. "Resveratrol: A Double-Edged Sword in Health Benefits." Biomedicines. 2018 Sep;6(3):91.
- Zhou H et al. "Encapsulation of lipophilic polyphenols in plant-based nanoemulsions: impact of carrier oil on lipid digestion and curcumin, resveratrol and quercetin bioaccessibility." Food Funct. 2021 Apr 26;12(8):3420-3432.