What it is
Regulatory status: dietary supplement / nutraceutical. Not a licensed medicine in the US, UK, or EU for any disease
At a glance
What it is, why people use it, the evidence, and what to know before trying it.
Why people use it
- SIRT1 activation (and by extension a “sirtuin / DNA-repair / CR-mimetic” programme)
- Improved insulin sensitivity / glycaemic control (HOMA-IR, clamp M-value, fasting glucose, HbA1c)
- Cardiovascular protection (blood pressure, lipids, CRP/TNF, endothelial function, “French paradox”)
- Better athletic / mitochondrial / VO2 performance; “exercise mimetic”
- Better cognition / slower Alzheimer’s progression
- Cancer chemoprevention or adjunct anti-tumour activity
- Longer human lifespan / delayed ageing
- That dietary red wine or peanuts deliver a meaningful resveratrol dose
Evidence at a glance
Resveratrol is a well-absorbed, rapidly conjugated stilbene whose parent-drug bioavailability is under 1%. The founding SIRT1-activator and yeast-lifespan claims did not survive native-substrate biochemistry or independent lifespan tests; the NIA ITP found **no mouse-lifespan effect** on a standard diet at two start ages. Human evidence is a scatter of small, short RCTs: some T2D lab metas show modest fasting-glucose and BP shifts; the two best clamp trials and a 16-week MetS RCT are **null**, and 1 g/day **raised LDL** in that MetS trial. Exercise RCTs show **blunting**, not mimicry. Cognition and cancer have no outcome win; the AD phase 2 showed more brain-volume loss. Human lifespan benefit is **unsupported** — there are no data, and the animal gold-standard is negative. Confidence: **unsupported** for longevity, athletic performance, and hard CV/cancer outcomes; **weak** for glycaemic surrogates in T2D only; **weak / possibly harmful** as an add-on to training.