Have you been searching for the health benefits of supplements? If so you may have come across the seemingly amazing and natural substance – Resveratrol – a polyphenol that occurs in plants, including grape seeds and skins. Sometimes it’s hard to know who to trust and what supplements are the best. Here we’ve compiled some scientific data in an attempt to answer the question, “What is Resveratrol?” Should you be taking it? What are the health benefits and side effects?
It’s important to understand this substance since there are so many claims about it. The supplement industry touts the ability of Resveratrol as an anti-aging, cancer fighting product (among many other benefits). This seems a bit hard to believe! I felt the need to research this so I could provide helpful information to anyone that may be interesting in trying the product. Let’s take a look at some of the scientific findings.
What is Resveratrol? – Health Benefits
Resveratrol is an Antioxidant
Resveratrol possess many biological properties, but the best described resveratrol property is their capacity to act as a potent antioxidant [39]…
..[It] can also be used in minimizing or preventing lipid oxidation in pharmaceutical products, delaying toxic oxidation products formation, and maintaining both nutritional quality and prolonging pharmaceuticals shelf-life [43,44,45]. In addition, resveratrol’s antioxidant properties have been successfully employed to protect cells against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress, where the pre-treatment with resveratrol promoted cell survival and protection against UV-irradiation-induced cell death.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164842/
The antioxidant and free radical scavenger behavior alone is surprising. In essence, Resveratrol works to make your body less toxic while promoting cellular health. Free radicals (unstable molecules) occur naturally in the body, but too many of them can lead to problems. They can damage organs, promote aging, damage the brain, or even lead to cancer. Resveratrol actually helps to stop this behavior by performing the antioxidant duty of destroying free radicals.
Anti-Cancerous Effects
Numerous studies have demonstrated that resveratrol possesses antitumor action and is a likely candidate for treatment and prevention several types of cancer [31,48]. The anticancer properties of resveratrol have been confirmed by many in vitro and in vivo studies, which show that resveratrol is able to inhibit all carcinogenesis stages (e.g., initiation, promotion and progression) [49,50,51]. Many studies also provided evidence that resveratrol not only acts a chemopreventive agent, but also display chemotherapeutic properties linked to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, pro-apoptosis and anti-proliferative actions [50,52].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164842/
Maybe Resveratrol really is a miracle supplement. You can get a bottle of this stuff for less than $30 dollars. If it really is a great cancer treatment and prevention, then the pharmaceutical industry is in trouble. According to research, Resveratrol can reduce the size of tumors, has anti-inflammatory abilities, and potentially help carcinogenic behaviors.
Newer studies have supported the evidence that Resveratrol is a good candidate for preventing and even treating breast cancer. It also can help – pancreatic, bladder, prostate, and many other types. It’s no wonder that a naturally occurring substance can potentially help more than some harmful chemicals that are suggested. Hopefully, we’re on the verge of a breakthrough.
Resveratrol Protects the Heart
Resveratrol protective effect was shown to improve cardiovascular function in diabetic rats [73,74] by preserving the functional abilities of cardiac stem/progenitor cell compartments and mature cardiac cells, improved cardiac environment by reducing inflammatory state and decreased unfavorable ventricular remodeling of the diabetic heart, leading to a marked recovery of ventricular function [74].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164842/
The list goes on…Resveratrol even helps the cardiovascular system. Having a healthy heart is important for overall fitness, prevention of disease/illness, and being able to move with ease. With a better circulatory system, you’ll have less inflammation, better health, better cognition, and probably an overall better life! This list appears to be never-ending.
Prevent Neurological Problems
Resveratrol has several neuroprotective roles in various neurodegenerative impairments, such as Alzheimer′s, Huntington′s and Parkinson′s diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and alcohol-induced neurodegenerative disorders [84,85].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164842/
You even have the ability to protect brain functioning! Many neurological diseases are not curable, and they’re even difficult to treat. Resveratrol can potentially help here as well. It has been shown to reduce fatigue as well as other issues faced when battling a neurological problem. It can help with inflammation during a hemorrhage as well as improve movement in individuals with motor issues.
Helps Inflammation
Studies reported the ability of resveratrol to reduce the secretion and expression of inflammatory factors [94]…
…studies suggest that resveratrol can prevent inflammation and oxidative stress, reduce the risk of carcinogenesis and developed as anti-inflammatory agent to improve the quality of life of patients.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164842/
Inflammation is a major problem in people with health issues. It causes pain, discomfort, and can even affect someone’s mood. There are already ways to help inflammation, but Resveratrol has that ability to among all the other health benefits.
Antibacterial Abilities
Resveratrol, in addition to the above described biological activities, has been studied for its ability to inhibit the growth of some pathogenic microorganisms…
…Resveratrol showed antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and time-kill assays showed that its effects were due to its bacteriostatic action [105].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164842/
This particular research study was unable to determine just why Resveratrol appears to have antimicrobial tendencies. It seems, though, that it has the ability to stop some pathogens from growing and getting worse.
What is Resveratrol? – Negative/Side – Effects
Clinical trials have shown that RV and trans-RV supplementation is safe and well tolerated at different doses [25,29,33,39,42,43,44,45]. However, some participants reported one or more adverse events, such as gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, flatulence, bowel motions, abdominal discomfort, loose stools, and diarrhea, after ingesting a dose of 2.5 to 5 g of RV [22,25,34,42,43].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6317057/
It has been found in multiple studies that the supplement does not have any dangerous or toxic side effects. That is great news! But the study listed above did find some potentially uncomfortable symptoms. It appears that you could face some stomach issues when ingesting the substance. It’s up to you to determine if it’s worth it!
Final Words:
I do work in the healthcare industry, but I’m no where near a doctor. Be sure to do more research before deciding if Resveratrol is right for you. It seems like it really does have so many awesome benefits and very little costs/detriments. What do you think?
Thanks for reading!
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