Benefits of Resveratrol

By Adam Sinicki

Resveratrol, found in red grapes and red wine, is looking like it may well be the next big supplement to hit the market and has many benefits that will appeal to almost every demographic. The main use of resveratrol however is as a life extension drug and hence this is not a usual review as it would take many years to find out if it was working or not. Suffice to say I haven't died yet.
These life extension benefits work in many interesting ways. Of course resveratrol is an antioxidant (a big buzz word at the moment) meaning that it can protect the cells from oxidisation so slowing our ageing (some believe visibly) and prevent mutations in the DNA which lead to cancer. But that's not all resveratrol does to slow ageing.
If you're interested in the whole life-extension strand of Transhumanism then you will likely have heard of 'calorie restriction' - a diet that aims to increase the human lifespan by restricting the amount of calories we eat. Many people follow this practice having learned from studies on mice that restricting calories can increase their lifespan by almost 50% and hoping the same might be true of humans. Of course the problem with this is that it just so happens to be wildly impractical and often leads to those people not getting enough of their essential nutrients and vitamins etc. At meals it's hardly sociable to order a glass of water and a side salad.
Fortunately then, resveratrol can give you the same effects as calorie restriction. Both work by essentially telling the body that it's starving and so forcing it to become more energy efficient by increasing the function of the mitochondria. This then helps to further protect our cells, but also means we can survive on less energy - taxing our bodies less when we eat and exercise. It is thought that the resveratrol found in red grapes and wine explains the 'French paradox' - that they are able to eat high fat diets and still suffer relatively low incidence of heart attack and heart problems.
Interestingly this works by telling the mitochondria to produce more ATP, and this is where all bodybuilders' ears should be pricking up - as ATP (andenosine triphosphate) is the energy that we use to workout in the gym. So in theory then, improving the function of the mitochondria should lead to increased performance and endurance in the gym, and lo and behold more studies on rats and mice suggest this is true and enables them to run for considerably longer on a treadmill.
The anti-ageing aspects also are said to work through resveratrol interacting with the gene that triggers ageing and rendering it ineffective - though whether this is able to work with the small doses you can currently buy is unknown.
Obviously there's no way to know if it's really working that well just yet... I mean so far I haven't died... But again I'm finding there seem to be effects that I can't conclusively determine are more than placebo effects. What they seem to be doing though is helping me feel more energetic and improving concentration - I've found that my productivity has increased as has my general feeling of wellbeing. I'll continue to make notes and let you know how I feel in 50 years.
But regardless, for transhumanists and bodybuilders alike who want to stay ahead of the curve, resveratrol is a highly promising supplement that might just be an all-in-one health boost. Look into it.

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