I have to confess I take a truck-load of supplements. My 11 year old son Raphael regularly says “mum, I’m really concerned about the amount of pills you take”!!. I see my habit as a sort of insurance policy and tend to stay abreast of the research through the Life Extension Foundation as well as follow the advice of certain key doctors who also take supplements. Mind you, with the increasing availability of Nutrigenomic testing this will change somewhat as in the future we’ll be able to better see which nutrients and in what doses are optimal for us as an individual.
I’ve been taking Resveratrol for sometime but thought I’d seek help from Professor Brian Morris to get up to speed on the latest research:
Why supplement with Resveratrol? Will it slow aging or prevent disease?
Clinical trials are in progress to answer this. But based on studies of a mouse model of obesity, supplementation should prevent the adverse effects of a bad diet.
Why can’t I get enough in my food?
Resveratrol by itself is present in certain fruit and vegetables in small quantities that are lower than needed to give the totality of health benefits. But there is a very strong argument for a healthy diet rich in fruit and veges (excluding potatoes, rice and steel-milled flour products) since this will provide a wide array of different natural chemicals in the same or similar class as resveratrol that, although not as effective as resveratrol in sirtuin activation, do nevertheless cause additional and overlapping benefits to cells, intracellular pathways and ultimately the whole body.
What form to take and the importance of this?
Resveratrol needs to be taken mixed with olive oil (for example) since it is not soluble in water.
Are there any risks involved?
The risks are minimal. It can cause wheezing in people with allergies / asthma.
Are there any issues with stability/quality
It is easily destroyed by heat, air and light. It should be shipped on dry ice in the dark, and kept in a freezer in a light-tight, sealed container.
Are there any special requirements in terms of taking it?
It probably doesn’t matter. The animal experiments used resveratrol made up in mouse pellets. We get this done for our research by a commercial supplier in Perth. We ship the resveratrol powder to them in a container of dry ice and they make the pellets under special conditions to avoid loss of its activity.
Does it need other compounds to accompany it for optimal absorption?
No, apart from it being dissolved in, e.g. olive oil immediately before consumption.
Do I need to take in divided doses?
Two doses over the 24 hours might give better delivery than one, but from what I have heard, one dose a day may be OK.
When should I take it?
No particular time, but morning with breakfast is a suggestion.
What dose should I take?
1 gram per day
Can I test so as I know I’m taking the correct dose for me?
HPLC is the standard method. But this needs to be set up, and is not accessible to most people. There are also kits that measure FOXO activity, where FOXOs are activated by resveratrol (subsequent to sirtuin activation). But again, a specialist laboratory would need to do these and they are expensive.
Can you please provide a few references to sites and research?
See my recent pubs by going to PubMed. The most recent is:
Marques FZ, Markus MA, Morris BJ. Resveratrol: Cellular actions of a potent natural chemical that confers a diversity of health benefits. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2009 Jun 13. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19527796 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
Where do you recommend I buy it?
Best source is Lalilab Inc, 1415 Hamlin Rd, Durham, North Carolina 27704 (Tel: 1-919-620-6767) bruno@lalilab.com. They sell the resveratrol prepared by Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Plot no. L-8 & L-9, MIDC, Industrial area, Waluj – 431 136, Aurangabad – Malayashtra (Mumbai?), India.
Last Reviewed 10/Mar/2014
