Fit and Youthful Life

Guest Author: Gordon Hall


Shopping for a resveratrol from grape supplement can be frustrating.  There are lots of different supplements on the market, but not many good ones.  Here’s a short review of some of the products that are available.

The Liquids   

There are several liquid brands.  Typically, they are marketed as “red wine alternatives” or “resveratrol for the non-drinker”.  Research has shown that the levels of trans-resveratrol in the bloodstream do not rise significantly when drinking red wine.  The same would be true with a liquid resveratrol from grape supplement. 

In fact, most researchers are now saying that the beneficial health effects of regular red wine consumption could not be due to the trans-resveratrol content, because the content is too low.  They believe, instead, that the beneficial effects are due to the combination of phytochemicals, as well as the alcohol, that is found in red wine.  Most healthcare professionals believe that moderate amounts of alcohol (1 or 2 drinks per day) are good for you, as long as you don’t have a drinking problem or other health problems. 

The Powders

The reason that a liquid resveratrol from grape supplement would not raise the levels found in the blood is because digestive processes (stomach acids, enzymatic activity, etc) breaks the compound down before it gets to the upper intestine, where it can pass through and enter the blood.  Powders would be broken down in the same manner and would not increase bloodstream levels.

The Pills

Researchers have tested uncoated tablets and found the same results.  There is limited bio-availability of this compound.  The same is true of other nutrients, such as SAM-e.  When they hit the stomach, acid breaks them down and they never make it to a point where they can be effectively released into the bloodstream.  Basically, they are worthless.

Now, if a pill has a good enteric coating, then it will pass through the stomach with the nutrients intact.  When the pill reaches the upper intestine, it disintegrates, if the appropriate enzymes are included in the tablet.  The nutrients are released, they pass through the walls or the upper intestine and the body may begin to use them as needed.

If a resveratrol from grape supplement does not have an enteric coating and include the appropriate enzymes, it is worthless.

Your Best Choice

Your best choice for supplementation is one that includes essential vitamins and minerals, in the most natural form.  The best value for the money is a product that contains a wide array of amino acids and antioxidants, packaged in an enteric coating to protect the nutrients from stomach acid. 

You can reduce your frustration by researching effective supplements online, rather than trying to stand in a store and read all of those labels.  Most supplements do not work as they should, because the manufacturers do not use the best form of the nutrient or the method of delivery is ineffective.  You can shop with confidence for a resveratrol from grape supplement, as long as you know what to look for.  Hopefully, you now have the info that you need. If you have a minute to spare, please take a look at my website now.

Guest Author: Gordon Hall


Unlike other natural compounds, resveratrol use is relatively new.  One of the medicinal plants that it is found in has been used for thousands of years.  It’s called Japanese Knotweed.  The compound was isolated from the root of the plant in 1963.  However, the plant chemical did not get much attention until 1992, when it was found to be present in red wine.

Most health experts agree that drinking small amounts of red wine every day is good for your heart and your overall health.  It has been theorized that the beneficial effects of red wine may be due to its resveratrol content.  But, it may also be due to other flavonoids found in the wine or the combination of all of them.

As part of the scientific method of study, it is necessary to isolate a single compound to learn its effects.  If other compounds are present, the effect cannot be ascribed to one or both of the, with scientific surety.  It’s not just that researchers want to be able to recommend resveratrol use; they want to be able to provide clear science based evidence that it is beneficial for specific conditions.

Natural health experts have a slightly different understanding of the way the body works.  They accept scientific research, but they are also well aware that nutrients do not stand alone.  Some nutrients are only effective if other nutrients are present.  Some plant chemicals work with each other.  Some work against each other. 

The affect that the digestive system has on a compound must be considered.  The compound itself must be bio-active.  That is active within the human body.  It takes a lot of research to develop a totally balanced supplement that addresses all of these issues.

Most natural health experts do recommend resveratrol use, but they recommend that it be included in a totally balanced supplement for many reasons.  Here’s one of them.

The antioxidant activity that resveratrol has is “incomplete”.  It converts one free radical into another weaker one.  Vitamin C or another ascorbate must be present to neutralize that free radical.  In order to get the most benefit from vitamin C, enzymes and glutathione must be present.  In order for the body to produce glutathione, L-cysteine must be present. 

To insure that you had all of these compounds in your body in adequate amounts by designing a perfect daily diet would not be impossible, but it would be very difficult.  And, those are just the nutrients necessary for a single activity.  There are hundreds of things going on in the cells every day that are similar.

Supplementation is the best form of insurance that we have.  Including resveratrol use in the supplements that you take every day is a good choice.  It’s just not the only thing that the body needs.  It may be beneficial for many reasons, including the prevention of type II diabetes and easing weight loss.  But, it will only be effective if the manufacturer designs the supplement correctly.  Sometimes, resveratrol use is a waste of time.  Look for the best in order to save time and money. If you have two minutes to spare, please take a look at my website now.

Guest Author: Darrell Miller


Chemically, Resveratrol is a polyphenol that includes the flavanoids and proanthocyanadins, both very powerful antioxidants. These are very useful for the destruction of free radicals that threaten your health and well-being in this age of excessive pollution and vehicle emissions, and also excessive exposure to the harmful factors of sunlight through the erosion of the ozone layer that acts as a filter against these harmful free radical-inducing rays.

Biohemically it is a phytoalexin, a chemical used by a plant to protect against and destroy invaders. Each phytoalexin is specific to a particular invader, whether it is an insect, a bacterium or a fungus. They can take the form of terpenes, alkaloids or any other chemical that disrupt the cell walls of or otherwise destroy the enemy to the plant concerned.

Resveratrol is particularly well known for existing on the skins of red grapes, but can also be produced synthetically and marketed as a nutritional supplement. The so-called ‘French Paradox’ relates to the low incidence of coronary heart disease in Southern France in spite of the high saturated fat content of their diet. At least part of this is claimed to be due to the Resveratrol content of the red wine they drink, although the quantity even in a whole bottle is very small.

However, before considering the nutritional benefits of the extract, apart from red grape skins where else can resveratrol be found? Japanese knotweed is a bushy perennial plant, about 4 to 10 feet high, is a very rich source of resveratrol, and is the more important natural source of the two. Red grape skins hardly contain enough to be worthy of extracting. It is also present in minor quantities in pine nuts, peanuts and various other vines and grapes.

It has been under study for many years now for its effect on the heart and other parts of the body, and the antioxidant effect of resveratrol has been found to be unique. The effect of free radicals on the arteries is to help, along with cholesterol, to promote the thickening and hardening of the artery walls. Damage to the arteries by free radicals, and the resulting scar tissue, causes the production of even more free radicals and a vicious circle of damage and even more free radical production occurs.

The antioxidant action of resveratrol is in the enhancement of the nitric oxide content of the blood. Free radicals can reduce the levels of blood nitric oxide that in turn increases blood pressure. An increase in nitric oxide by appropriate antioxidants can help to reduce blood pressure closer to normal. Resveratrol is more effective in achieving this than any of the vitamin antioxidants, A, C or E. It does so by opening up the arteries and reducing the resistance to blood flow through them. .

It also helps to prevent blood cells from sticking together and forming clots that can lead to serious cardiovascular problems, and has been found by Canadian studies to be effective against a much wider range of chemicals that promote blood clotting than any other anti-clotting components of wine. In fact it has now been established, and more or less confirmed by the medical profession, that drinking red wine significantly reduces the effects of cardiovascular disease and can even go a long way towards curing it. Napa Valley here we come!

Inflammation is a condition that is caused by the immune system of the body, the purpose of which is to protect us against foreign invaders. However, once inflammation starts, it triggers even further immune responses itself, that if not controlled can lead to extremely painful and sometimes very serious conditions, even after the major trigger for the initial immune response has been dealt with.

Inflammation is regulated by chemicals known as cytokines, the master of which is NF Kappa B that controls all other cytokines. NF Kapa B also controls the activity of cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) essential for that part of the immune system that causes inflammation.

COX-2 is an enzyme that increases the production of Postaglandin E-2 (PGE-2) that is an essential trigger for T-cells that attack perceived foreign cells. If PGE-2 is suppressed, then the T-cells will not be activated. This is an essential part of reducing unwanted inflammation. However, it can be dangerous to suppress molecules below NF Kappa B such as COX-2 or PGE-2. VIOXX is a prime example of the type of heart problems that can occur if you try that type of inhibition, and Celebrex is another.

The beauty of resveratrol is that, although advertised and claimed to control COX-2 and Prostoglandin E-2, it does so by suppressing the action of NF Kapa B, the ’supreme controller’ of the inflammatory war.

Finally, there is also some evidence that resveratrol can have an effect on aging. It is well known that powerful anti-oxidants can help to protect against the cell destruction that free radicals can cause, and so help to protect the body against the aging effect of this cell destruction. However, there is another way in which resveratrol might contribute to us all looking more youthful in future (though for many of us it is a bit too late!).

Sirtuins (silent information regulator proteins) are enzymes that are known to promote the survival of cells through adverse conditions, such as SIRT 1 that protects against premature aging by suppressing the destruction of damaged cells long enough for them to be repaired. Plant polyphenols such as resveratrol are though to be able to activate sirtuins with the possibility of lengthening life by slowing natural cell destruction, and have also been shown to be able to slow aging by activating sirtuins to mimic the benefits of calorie restriction.

There is still a lot of research and work required on resveratrol, but the signs are evident that this is a possibility in the future for extending the average lifespan of human beings by a significant amount. In the case of yeast it has been demonstrated to be as much as 80%.

Translated to you or I that would mean us living to about 140 years old – if we want it!

Guest Author: Valerie Rosenbaum


Most resveratrol supplements are not worth the investment. While researchers have shown many resveratrol benefits in the laboratory, the nutrient must reach your bloodstream in order to perform its magic. The latest research indicates that it does not usually make it to the bloodstream.

They have tested people’s blood after drinking wine on an empty stomach, drinking it with food and taking uncoated resveratrol supplements. None of these caused a significant increase in the levels of trans-resveratrol in the bloodstream.

All of the studies concerning resveratrol benefits were conducted using trans-resveratrol. The supplement with the highest trans-resveratrol content is standardized to a 50% concentration. If an enteric coating is applied, this type of supplement can increase the blood level of trans-resveratrol, but most companies don’t use the right form and they don’t include an enteric coating.

You won’t get any resveratrol benefits from a powder or liquid form. You might get some by drinking red wine, but researchers believe that the benefit of red wine is not due to its trans-resveratrol content. The amount that you would have to drink to significantly affect circulating blood levels would be damaging to the liver.

So, resveratrol supplements are a good idea, as long as the manufacturer uses the right form, combines it with other important nutrients and wraps the whole thing up in an enteric coating, to insure that it reaches the upper intestine, where it can pass through to the bloodstream.

Some of the resveratrol benefits include a healthier heart, a reduced risk of cancer, better functioning metabolism and possibly an extension of your lifespan, if the results of the laboratory studies can be transferred to humans.

No one is sure how or why it works in the ways that it does. There are only theories.

One of the most convincing is that trans-resveratrol increases the activity of a gene that can reduce a free radical known as superoxide. Superoxide molecules are not highly toxic, but they can, over time, cause DNA degeneration.

If this theory is correct, resveratrol supplements should include vitamin C, enzymes and glutathione. The gene reduces superoxide to hydrogen peroxide, which is also a free radical. Vitamin C and other ascorbates, reduce hydrogen peroxide to water. If glutathione and enzymes are also present, vitamin C remains more active for a longer period of time.

Some of the better supplement manufacturers include the right combination of antioxidants and other nutrients to provide the greatest effect. Resveratrol benefits are included among them.

There are hundreds of different nutrients and plant extracts that are known to be beneficial to human health. It would be nearly impossible to include all of them in your diet. Some of them are not plants that we normally eat. Extracts from marigold, for example, are known to protect the eyes from oxidative damage. When was the last time that you ate a marigold?

So, supplementation is important and necessary, if you want to live the longest, healthiest life possible. But, single-ingredient resveratrol supplements are not your best choice for supplementation.



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