What is resveratrol? Resveratrol is a component found in numerous plants. It is specifically produced by these plants to fight off any foreign substances that may be a threat to the plant’s health and function. Resveratrol is well absorbed, whether it is consumed naturally through food or in supplement form. However, your body also metabolises and removes it very quickly; therefore, the amount of resveratrol that remains and is utilised by the body is not very high. Some of the richest sources of resveratrol include blueberries, cacao powder, cranberries, grape skins, peanuts, and red wine.
Now let's look at how it works in the body. The specific structure of resveratrol allows it to activate enzymes (proteins that help to speed up specific reactions in the body) that play an essential role in a variety of functions such as ageing, your metabolism and DNA function.
Here are some benefits that you can get from resveratrol:
Antioxidant function
Resveratrol plays an essential role in acting as a dietary antioxidant. Antioxidants play a crucial role in protecting the body from free radicals and help to prevent oxidative stress by neutralising those free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules in the body that can cause damage if there are too many of them. Oxidative stress is when there are too many free radicals in the body because they are not being removed. During oxidative stress, the body is vulnerable to damage.
Heart diseases
Many of us have heard that a glass of red wine per day is good for our hearts. This revelation first came about in the early 1900s. Over time research has shown that this benefit to our hearts is not only because wine is thought to have a relaxing effect on the body but also because the resveratrol within red wine is a potent antioxidant that helps to prevent damage to the heart, decreases inflammation of and prevents the build-up of fatty components in the blood vessels. In addition, resveratrol has also shown to reduce the clumping together of platelets (small blood cells that help your blood to clot) in the blood, which in turn decreases the risk for blood clot formation. If the risk for blood clot formation decreases, then so does the risk for a stroke, heart attack and numerous other heart diseases.
Resveratrol has also shown to be beneficial for high blood pressure as it helps to prevent free radicals from damaging the blood vessels and helps to expand the blood vessels, so that blood flow is enhanced throughout the body. It's when your blood vessels are constricted, and blood flow has to be forced to flow throughout the body and blood pressure increases.
Menopause
Resveratrol may be beneficial in treating some menopausal symptoms as it is a phytoestrogen. This means that resveratrol mirrors the effect of estrogen, which is commonly referred to as the female hormone. Both men and women produce estrogen naturally in their bodies (women produce more). Estrogen plays an essential role in controlling your reproduction system as well as in skin and bone health. As a phytoestrogen, resveratrol may assist in treating menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes and mood swings.
While a lot of the claims surrounding resveratrol still require a lot of research, one thing we do know is that resveratrol is an effective antioxidant that helps to protect your body from damage caused by free radicals.
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