Resveratrol — should we finally declare it dead?
I’ve been taking resveratrol for almost 3 years now based on all the Sinclair hype and longevity studies. 500mg daily with some fat for absorption. But honestly? I’m starting to think this whole thing is BS. Recent meta-analyses keep showing basically zero benefit in humans, and the bioavailability is apparently terrible unless you’re taking massive doses. My bloodwork hasn’t changed meaningfully – nothing in lipids, inflammation markers, nothing. Meanwhile I’m spending like $40/month on this stuff.
The original studies were all in yeast and mice, and even those results haven’t really replicated well. I know some people swear by it for sirtuin activation and NAD+ boosting, but are we just chasing another overhyped supplement? I’m also on metformin and berberine, so maybe there’s some interaction I’m missing, but I’m seriously considering dropping it from my stack.
Anyone actually seen real, measurable benefits? Or are we all just really invested (financially and psychologically) in wanting this to work? Would love to hear if anyone’s doctor has actually recommended it vs us all just self-experimenting based on podcasts.
Honestly I dropped it about 6 months ago and haven’t noticed any difference whatsoever. Was taking it for 2 years before that. My functional medicine doc actually told me the same thing – the human data just isn’t there and the doses that showed any effect in animal studies would translate to like 3-5 grams daily for humans. At that point you’re just stressing your liver for questionable benefits. I redirected that money toward quality fish oil and CoQ10 instead. Way better evidence base imo.
I’m gonna push back a little here. I’m 49M and I DO feel like it helps with recovery when I combine it with quercetin post-workout. Could be placebo, sure, but my subjective energy is better. That said, I switched to pterostilbene instead about 8 months ago since it supposedly has way better bioavailability – like 80% vs 20% for resveratrol. Smaller dose needed too. Might be worth trying that before you completely give up on the stilbene family? Just a thought. My lipid panel did improve but I also started tirzepatide around the same time so who knows what’s doing what lol
The bioavailability argument that MitoMadness mentioned is the key issue here. Most resveratrol gets metabolized in the gut and liver before it ever reaches systemic circulation. There are some newer liposomal formulations that claim better absorption but tbh the studies on those are pretty limited too. I think the lesson here is that what works in C. elegans doesn’t always translate to humans – we learned this with so many other compounds. Not saying it’s completely useless but yeah, the evidence in humans is underwhelming at best.
I mean, are we surprised? This happens with like every supplement that gets hyped. Remember when everyone was megadosing nicotinamide riboside? Then the studies came out showing it might actually be counterproductive in some contexts. I still take resveratrol but only because I have a giant bottle left and I’m too cheap to waste it lol. Once it’s gone I’m probably not reordering. Focusing more on the basics – sleep, protein, resistance training, and my GLP-1 protocol. Those actually have measurable effects.