Resveratrol – The Longevity Activating Antioxidant

We all know there isn’t a magic pill to stop us from aging, but we also know there are things we can do to help our bodies and minds age more slowly and gracefully.  Eating healthfully, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking, getting quality, restorative sleep, and exercising are all lifestyle choices we can make to give ourselves the best chance of aging well, avoiding disease, and extending our lifespan (and healthspan).

But is there more we can do to harness our body’s natural ability to repair and heal itself?  According to a fascinating book I’ve been reading called “Lifespan, Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To,” by David A. Sinclair, PhD, the answer seems to be yes.

In the early 2000s, antioxidants became all the rage (rightfully!).  But there’s one antioxidant standout discussed in Lifespan that gets a gold medal—Resveratrol.  Resveratrol is a natural molecule found in red wine and produced by other plants that grow under stressful conditions.  Essentially, plants grown in stressful conditions, like with limited access to water, extreme heat, or unforgiving soil, have higher concentrations of what are called “xenohormetic molecules” (like resveratrol) that activate the plant’s survival mechanisms and tell the plants to hunker down and survive.  And the survival benefit doesn’t end with the plant!  When we ingest plants that have been stressed, our own survival circuits are activated as well by consuming those xenohormetic molecules.  This is one of the (many) reasons organic produce is good for us—it hasn’t been given the easy way out!  And if you’ve ever heard anyone tell you to choose wild blueberries over non-wild, the reason is that the wild blueberries have survived and thrived under harsh conditions, and they pass this benefit onto us. Amazing!

Lifespan is a really technical book, which I appreciate, because I like to understand (or try to understand, let’s be honest) the science and clinical studies behind the results, but here’s a super quick summary of how the longevity benefit of resveratrol appears to work.  We mammals have longevity genes called “sirtuins,” which, among other vital functions, help repair our DNA and protect us against disease, inflammation, and cell death.  Activating our sirtuins is therefore activating our longevity circuitry, and in addition to low-calorie diets and exercise, resveratrol (and other similar molecules) have been found to directly activate our sirtuins. 

The bottom line is resveratrol activates longevity genes, and has been shown to extend lifespan.

The bad news is you can’t just drink a lot of red wine to get your dose of resveratrol (bummer!).  It would take 750 to 1,000 glasses of red wine a day to get the necessary dose that’s been clinically shown to have benefits, and that’s a few glasses over my limit.  But you can take a resveratrol supplement that has a more concentrated dose. 

A couple things to follow that up – I am not recommending that you personally should take a resveratrol supplement, because I’m not a doctor and that’s not my place, but I would highly recommended checking out the research, either in Lifespan or elsewhere, to decide for yourself.  I’m not a big fan of supplements in general, because I prefer to get my vitamins and minerals from my diet, but since I can’t quite stomach 750 glasses of wine, I made an exception for resveratrol after wading through the research.

I’m constantly amazed by our bodies and how they’ve evolved in these incredibly complex ways to protect us from disease and aging.  So I love finding ways I can help my body do what it’s designed to do—survive and thrive!

Cheers!