Resveratrol Supplements - What Can They Really Do?

One of the really amazing mysteries for nutritionists and doctors in recent years is the "French Paradox" — that bizarre evidence which shows that cultures like France have longer and generally healthier lives than Americans, despite their high fat diets.

This phenomenon is no coincidence. The real key behind the paradox, we now know, is resveratrol. A powerful antioxidant, resveratrol is produced as a defense mechanism against infection by some plants.

The only thing that was confusing in terms of the French Paradox is that it didn't appear the French were getting enough resveratrol from their diet alone.

Taking resveratrol produced benefits basically across the board when administered in a lab, which is something almost no one will deny. The mice who were given resveratrol had more energy, were more "muscular" (as far as mice can be, I guess), and lived longer.

But it gets even better…

After taking resveratrol, mice with diabetes saw their blood glucose levels drop to near normal levels.

No one was willing to go so far as to claim they had found a cure for diabetes, but those results were so shocking that they decide to really start testing this oh humans.

Of course it couldn't be long before the internet started to play a part. No doubt you've already seen the news that's been describing resveratrol as the best thing since, well, anything.

Is all this coverage deserved?

It just may. 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 perhaps, just perhaps, resveratrol comes as close as we can hope to get.

And since it only takes a minute or two, I'd think you'd want to check it out. One thing you need to be aware of is that like CoQ10 and similar supplements, resveratrol bypasses a lot of the drug purity laws by being a "nutritional supplement."

Buying any supplement, including resveratrol, means that you have to take a few precautions to know that what you're getting is real. There's not any way to synthesize resveratrol yet. And since we have to get it all from plants, it takes time and work. 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 what do you need to do to choose the best resveratrol supplements?

Fillers are something you don't want to see in whatever resveratrol supplement you get. You should be aware that resveratrol can break down if not stored properly — it's best to get a product that hasn't been stored in high temperatures or exposed to 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. You should also take a few minutes to watch the videos there — they have some directions for how to get free samples of resveratrol. This is good stuff. It could definitely save you a good amount of money vs a trial and error method.

Just to sum up, whichever resveratrol supplements you choose to take, understand that it's only a part of a health maintenance system. Excerise, a health diet and some attention to your emotional health are still important.

A pill won't undo all of the damage we do to our bodies by itself, but it the lab tests are to be believed, it can seriously cut down on the time needed for these changes to have a positive effect.