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What is Resveratrol?
What are the benefits?
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What is Resveratrol?
Resveratrol was first isolated in 1940 from the roots of hellebore. In 1963, it was then isolated  from the roots of Polygonum Cuspidatum, a traditional Chinese and Japanese medicinal plant. Resveratrol did not attract interest until 1992, when it was considered to explain some of the life long consumption cardio protective benefits of red wine. Since then, there have been many research reports that have shown Resveratrol can prevent or slow down a wide variety of illnesses from Cancer and Alzheimer’s to cardiovascular disease on animals.
Resveratrol for cancer.
In 1997, Jang published a research paper reporting that Resveratrol inhibits carcinogenesis at multiple stages. They found that topical application of Resveratrol reduced the number of skin tumors in mice by up to 98%. This triggered Resveratrol research around the world.
Since then, systemic administration of Resveratrol has been shown to inhibit, and limit the growth of tumors in a wide variety of rodent cancerous models. The research models suggest that Resveratrol could inhibit cancerous tumor development using multiple mechanisms.
Resveratrol (3,4’,5-trihydroxystilbene) belongs to a class of polyphenolic compounds called stilbenes. Some types of plants produce Resveratrol and other stilbenes in response to stress, injury, fungal infection, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It is found in the skins of certain red grapes, in peanuts, blueberries, some pines (Scots pine, eastern white pine) and the roots and stalks of Japanese knotweed (hu zhang in China) and giant knotweed.
Although a chemically produced version called Trans-Resveratrol was declared an Investigational New Drug by the National Institutes of Health in January of 2001, Resveratrol did not gain large notoriety among the general public until a study released by Harvard Medical School in November 2006. In this study, researchers David Sinclair and Rafael de Cabo, Ph.D., determined that Resveratrol increased the lifespan of obese mice and reversed nearly all of the changes in gene expression patterns found in mice on high calorie diets—some of which are associated with diabetes, heart disease, and other significant diseases related to obesity.
Update: As of mid 2007, Dr. David Sinclair is part of a group testing a Resveratrol formulation on humans with doses of 2500mg and 5000mg a day, and has recently finished phase "Ia" safety tests, and is further testing Resveratrol for specific positive results on various diseases.
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