Supplementing with Resveratrol

I am usually very skeptical about taking supplements simply because the majority of them are unproven, and the claims made by the manufacturers are often unreliable. One compound however, resveratrol, seems to have a lot of potential, and a convincing amount of data exists concerning its activity. As a matter of fact, there were 340 articles listed on PubMed within the past year that mention resveratrol. While the name may not be familiar to many people, it has been associated with what is called the "French Paradox". This is the observation that although the French diet is high in fat, their population has a lower than average rate of heart disease. Here is a summary of recent findings concerning resveratrol:

1. Found to extend the lifespan of a diverse range of organisms, including a 59% increase in maximum lifespan in a vertebrate fish.

2. Increases insulin sensitivity in mice.

3. Improves motor skills in mice.

4. Increases number of mitochondria in mice resulting in better endurance over controls.

5. Decreases organ pathology typically associated with high-calorie diets in mice.

6. Inhibits proliferation of many cancers, including pancreatic, prostate, lung, and lymphatic cancer.

7. Displays anti-viral activity against herpes simplex, HIV, and influenza virus.

So what's the catch? Well there is no long-term human data to support this. I have corresponded with people who have taken resveratrol since 2001 with no ill effect, but this is hardly proof against adverse effects. One study actually found that it could stimulate the growth of human breast cancer cells, possibly because it has a similar structure to estrogen.