Powerful antioxidant compound found naturally in foods like grapes

 

Photo by: Zoran Ozetsky, www.dezignia.com

This post was originally published as  Power Supplement: Resveratrol by Laurel on Health Food blog.

I’ve been hearing more and more about resveratrol over the past couple of years. It’s a powerful antioxidant compound found naturally in foods like grapes, cranberries, blueberries, peanuts, and wine. It’s also found naturally in a Chinese herb called Hu zhang and a Japanese plant called knotweed. According to Natural News, Hu zhang is actually the richest source of resveratrol on the planet!

Recent research found that resveratrol can help the body fight off cancer and heart disease, reduce inflammation, prevent weight gain, expand longevity (anti-aging), boost energy, and even improve athletic endurance. In addition, there’s preliminary research that says resveratrol reduces menopausal symptoms in women. Resveratrol has received support from big names like Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Fitness Magazine even featured a lengthy article on resveratrol in their February issue.

Resveratrol supplements are certainly popular these days. The Fitness article said it’s one of the top five supplements sold at Vitamin Shoppe. The Nutrition Business Journal estimates that sales of resveratrol supplements are over $30 million a year. A growing number of people are taking them to improve endurance and extend longevity. The research shows that resveratrol may “activate enzymes that help muscles use oxygen more efficiently.”

Unfortunately, resveratrol research has been mostly contained to laboratories at this point. There’s only been a few human trials (though they had successful results), but I’m sure more are underway.  I’m always a proponent of trying to get the majority of your daily nutrients, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, etc. from whole food sources. But resveratrol supplements could be a powerful addition to your healthy diet.

Fitness Mag recommended supplements with trans-resveratrol in the ingredient list (it’s the naturally-occurring form of the compound). Avoid supplements that say “complex”, “formula”, or “blend” on the label because you could only be getting a small amount of the good stuff. A few quality brands to look out for are: Longevinex, Swanson, and Biotivia. (Fitness Mag, Feb. 2010, p. 114).

UPDATE: This post was featured on FitBuff’s Total Mind and Body Blog Carnival 141 and the Baby Boomers Blog Carnival 27.