Despite reports of great promise in studies on mice, there appears to be no current way to way to deliver enough Resveratrol (trans-3,5,4′-trihydroxystilbene), to humans to affect human health at the current time.
According to Dr. Xi Zhao-Wilson, PhD, “What Dose of Resveratrol Should Humans Take?”, LE Magazine, March 2007 stated it would take 41 – 5.5 ounce glasses of red wine per day to provide an effective dose of Resveratrol for humans. Not a very healthy amount of red wine per day to say the least. Also according to the article “Resveratrol: Facts on Resveratrol Supplements”, Fit And Healthy, Dec. 2, 2005 the dose which is effective in mice would be “equal to a daily dose of about 1,500 to 28,000 mg of resveratrol, which is far more than that provided by most supplements”.
In fact the highest dose I have found was only 250 mg and this cost me $40. At this low dose, there is little evidence that Resveratrol affects human weight loss, disease prevention or longevity. Yet it is for sale all over the net, in drug stores, and supermarkets. The amount of this 250 mg dosage shows up as a clinically insignificant level in the human bloodstream. In other words I have wasted $40 for the small bottle I purchased and I do not know the side effects it may have on me or other humans due to lack of clinical studies.
A proprietary substitute for this substance called SRT-501 (3 or 5g), being tested by Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, as mentioned in Wikipedia’s article on Reservatrol has not yet been perfected for human usage at the current time. This form of Resveratrol releases about five times as much ingredient into the blood stream. It cannot be tested yet on humans since the dose per pound of test subject equivalent to the dose given to mice, which does have statistically beneficial effect, is not yet within reach.
Resveratrol, is a substance derived from grapes and other plants, has been shown to be effective in mice studies to reduce weight, cancer, blood vessel and heart disease, according to the article, Grape Expectations: The Resveratrol Story by Melissa Q.B. McElderry, M.S., R.D.
I would suggest saving your money until a form of this phyto-nutrient can be developed in a dose sufficient to affect humans. Furthermore it should be tested in clinical trials and shown to be both beneficial to humans and have no long term negative side effects before we start using it as a supplement. There is at least some indications that Resveratrol may affect the metabolism of other medications as has been found from drinking grapefruit juice. It also has a slight blood thinning effect. Children should not take this since studies on growth hormones are still being questioned (from the Fit And Healthy article referenced above0.
For now save your money.
