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Printed from https://bottledhope.co/supplements/resveratrol/. Last reviewed 2026-09-25. Check the site for the latest version.

Resveratrol

A plant compound found in grapes and red wine, sold as a supplement. It has been put forward for high blood fats, diabetes and aging.

Explained simply · Last reviewed

What it is

Resveratrol is a plant compound found in grapes and red wine. LiverTox, the US government's liver-injury database, says it is found in highest concentrations in the skin of red grapes, and in other fruits such as mulberries, blueberries and blackberries. It says resveratrol has been put forward for high blood fats, fatty liver, diabetes, hardening of the arteries and aging.

More about Resveratrol

LiverTox, the US government's liver-injury database, says it is found in highest concentrations in the skin of red grapes, and in other fruits such as mulberries, blueberries and blackberries. It says resveratrol has been put forward for high blood fats, fatty liver, diabetes, hardening of the arteries and aging.

LiverTox says that in yeast, worms and fruit flies, long-term resveratrol extended lifespan in a way similar to calorie restriction, results it calls somewhat controversial. In mice, it says, resveratrol extended lifespan on a high-fat diet but not in normal mice. A 2026 review of the research says resveratrol has drawn great attention as a compound that activates sirtuins, a family of proteins. A 2011 report from the US National Institute on Aging's mouse-testing program says sirtuins have been linked to the control of lifespan in yeast, flies and worms. It adds that the idea that resveratrol works by directly activating one of them, SIRT1, has been challenged.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) states that resveratrol has no nutritionally relevant role in the human diet. LiverTox says it is sold without prescription as a supplement, in many preparations. Supplement resveratrol can be made in a laboratory: the product EFSA assessed was synthetic trans-resveratrol, made by a chemical process to a purity of at least 99%.

Also known as: trans-resveratrol

At a glance

Safety: known risks, 4 groups who should avoid it or take extra care and 3 documented interactions. See Safety ↓

Claims made about Resveratrol, and how strong the evidence is for each:

Longevity and aging claims

Claims made about Resveratrol and aging, and how strong the evidence is for each. A change in a marker is not the same as a longer life.

Each rating follows our published rules and the sources cited for it. We don’t add our own medical judgment. How we rate

Safety

Read this before the ratings below.

Risks

  • LiverTox, a US government liver-injury database, states that side effects “may include minor gastrointestinal upset, nausea, headache and fatigue”, and that resveratrol “has few if any side effects”.
  • LiverTox rates resveratrol an unlikely cause of clinically apparent liver injury (its likelihood score E). It reports no published cases of such injury, and that resveratrol is not listed as a cause in large case series and national registries. In trials using high doses, average liver enzyme levels (ALT and AST) rose slightly during treatment and returned to normal after stopping, with no cases of jaundice or symptoms.
  • LiverTox states that “the purity of commercial products is rarely well defined”.
  • The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assessed a synthetic trans-resveratrol food supplement and concluded that “the intended intake level of 150 mg/day for adults does not raise safety concerns”. It also said that the available human studies, on their own, “do not provide sufficient evidence of safety”, because they were small and short and measured few safety outcomes.
  • EFSA noted that diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms were reported in four uncontrolled studies at doses of 1 g resveratrol/day or higher.
  • In animal studies, EFSA reported that reduced weight gain was seen consistently, and that effects on the kidney were reported at high doses in several studies.
  • EFSA described an uncontrolled study in 24 people with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, that was stopped because of acute kidney damage. It said no conclusions could be drawn from it, because of its design, the other medicines taken, and how common kidney problems are in that illness.

Who should avoid it or take extra care

  • Pregnancy: EFSA noted that pregnant rats “may be especially susceptible” to resveratrol’s effect on body weight, and its safety conclusion was stated for adults, without a separate conclusion for pregnancy.
  • Breastfeeding: LactMed, a US National Institutes of Health database on medicines and breastfeeding, states that “no data exist on the excretion of resveratrol into breastmilk or on the safety and efficacy of resveratrol in nursing mothers or infants”, and that “Resveratrol supplements usually contain hundreds of times the amounts found in wine or other foods, so their safety during breastfeeding cannot be assured.” It adds: “It is probably best to avoid the use of red wine as a source of resveratrol during breastfeeding.”
  • Children: EFSA’s safety conclusion was stated for adults.
  • Anyone taking the medicines listed below should talk to their doctor or pharmacist before taking resveratrol.

Documented interactions

  • Anticoagulants (blood thinners): LiverTox lists “possible supplement-drug interactions with estrogens and anticoagulants” among resveratrol’s side effects. It does not describe what the interaction does. Source [1]
  • Estrogens: LiverTox lists “possible supplement-drug interactions with estrogens and anticoagulants” among resveratrol’s side effects. It does not describe what the interaction does. Source [1]
  • Medicines mainly broken down by the enzyme CYP2C9: EFSA considered that a breakdown product of resveratrol (trans-resveratrol sulfate) could inhibit CYP enzymes in humans and “may interact with medicines which are mainly metabolised by CYP2C9”. It cited a four-week study in 42 healthy adults taking 1 g of resveratrol a day, which found that resveratrol inhibited measures of the activity of CYP3A4, CYP2D6 and CYP2C9, and increased that of CYP1A2. Source [1]

Safety sources: Source [1]Source [2]Source [3]

What the evidence says

Each claim is rated on its own evidence. Ratings follow the scale on our methodology page.

  • Lowers blood pressure Evidence rating: Limited

    People take it hoping it will bring their blood pressure down.

    A 2026 review found no significant fall in adults generally; in people with type 2 diabetes, its high-certainty fall did not fully hold up in its checks, and a 2021 review found only small falls.

    Two umbrella reviews, which re-grade earlier meta-analyses, looked at blood pressure. The 2026 review found that across 27 trials in adults generally, resveratrol did not significantly lower systolic or diastolic blood pressure. It rated this moderate certainty. For healthy adults it rated the evidence very low.

    In people with type 2 diabetes, the 2026 review rated a fall in both, from one earlier meta-analysis, as high certainty. But in its own checks the systolic fall was no longer significant once small trials, or trials at high risk of bias, were left out. The diastolic fall was no longer significant once trials at high risk of bias were left out. In people with fatty liver disease, both reviews found a moderate-certainty fall in diastolic blood pressure, which the 2021 review called not clinically important.

    The 2021 review found moderate-certainty evidence of small falls in people with type 2 diabetes. They were below the 2 mm Hg it treated as clinically important. It found resveratrol was not effective in metabolic syndrome. It concluded that its review “does not support supplementation with resveratrol for reducing blood pressure levels” in type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome or fatty liver disease.

    The two reviews disagree, so this page takes the lower rating.

    Sources: Source [1]Source [2]

  • Improves blood sugar control Evidence rating: Limited

    People take it hoping it will help keep their blood sugar under control.

    A 2026 review found a fall in adults generally; in people with type 2 diabetes, reviews found no change or small falls, and a 2020 Cochrane review, at very low certainty, found no significant change.

    A 2020 Cochrane review found three trials in adults with type 2 diabetes, with 50 people taking resveratrol or a placebo for four to five weeks. It found no significant difference in HbA1c (a measure of average blood sugar), fasting blood sugar or insulin resistance. It rated the HbA1c evidence very low certainty, and concluded that research is insufficient to evaluate resveratrol for type 2 diabetes.

    A 2021 umbrella review found moderate-certainty evidence of a small fall in fasting blood sugar in type 2 diabetes, too small to be clinically important. It found low-certainty evidence on HbA1c. It found a larger, moderate-certainty HbA1c fall in trials shorter than 12 weeks, subject to short follow-up and small samples. It concluded that current evidence does not support resveratrol for managing cardiometabolic risk factors in type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome or fatty liver disease.

    A 2026 umbrella review rated moderate-certainty evidence that resveratrol may promote glucose metabolism. In adults generally, its largest analysis (30 trials) found a fall in blood glucose that stayed significant when small trials, or trials at high risk of bias, were left out. A separate analysis of fasting blood sugar (23 trials) was no longer significant once trials at high risk of bias were left out. In people with type 2 diabetes it rated a small fall in HbA1c (12 trials) moderate certainty, but that fall was no longer significant once trials at high risk of bias were left out. The review also states that resveratrol “had no impact on glucose levels or insulin levels among patients with T2DM”.

    The reviews differ, so this page takes the lower rating.

    Sources: Source [1]Source [2]Source [3]

  • Improves cholesterol and blood fats Evidence rating: Limited

    People take it hoping it will improve their cholesterol and other blood fats.

    A 2026 review found, at moderate certainty, no significant change in LDL, HDL or triglycerides in adults generally; a fall in total cholesterol in overweight adults did not hold up in its own checks.

    A 2026 umbrella review found moderate-certainty evidence that resveratrol did not significantly change LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or triglycerides in adults generally. In overweight adults it found a small fall in total cholesterol, rated high certainty, with no significant change in HDL cholesterol or triglycerides. That fall was no longer significant once small trials, or trials at high risk of bias, were left out. Some of its other blood-fat results were rated very low certainty.

    A 2021 umbrella review found that total cholesterol fell only in people with type 2 diabetes, with low certainty. It found that resveratrol did not significantly affect blood fats in metabolic syndrome or fatty liver disease.

    Sources: Source [1]Source [2]

Longevity and aging

What the cited sources report about lifespan, death from any cause, and markers studied in connection with aging. A change in a marker is not the same as a longer life. Each outcome is rated on its own evidence, on the same scale as the claims above.

  • Lowers the risk of death from any cause Evidence rating: Insufficient

    People take it hoping it will lower their risk of dying early.

    No cited trial in people was designed to measure death from any cause; in an Italian study of 783 older adults, urine levels of resveratrol from the diet were not linked to death over nine years.

    No cited trial in people was designed to measure death from any cause. A 2020 Cochrane review of resveratrol for type 2 diabetes found three trials, in 50 adults followed for four to five weeks. None reported death from any cause as an outcome. All three reported no adverse events, which the reviewers took to mean no deaths occurred. They rated this very low certainty.

    An Italian study followed 783 adults aged 65 and over for nine years. In it, the level of resveratrol breakdown products in urine was not linked to the risk of dying from any cause. The study looked at resveratrol from the diet, including wine. Fewer than 1% of participants took any supplement, and urine was collected once, at the start.

    It was an observational study, which can show links but not cause and effect. The study reports that the starting urine measure correlated with dietary resveratrol intake reported 3, 6 and 9 years later (correlations of 0.59, 0.56 and 0.45).

    A letter published by the journal asked whether the result could be skewed. Women made up a larger share of those who survived than of those who died and, the letter said, women drink less wine than men. It asked for the analysis to be run for men and women separately.

    In reply, the study’s authors noted that their original analysis was already “after adjusting for sex and other potential confounders”. They reported that, analyzed separately, the urinary level was not significantly linked to death from any cause “for either men or women”.

    Sources: Source [1]Source [2]Source [3]Source [4]

  • Helps people live longer Evidence rating: Insufficient

    People take it hoping it will help them live longer.

    No cited source measured lifespan in people; in a US mouse-testing program, resveratrol did not significantly change lifespan in male or female mice.

    None of the cited sources measured lifespan in people. The US National Institute on Aging’s Interventions Testing Program tests candidate treatments in genetically varied mice at three sites. There, resveratrol added to food did not significantly change lifespan in male or female mice. That held whether it was started at 12 months of age at two doses or at 4 months of age.

    The program’s authors report that earlier studies found longer survival only in mice fed a diet high enough in fat to make them obese, not in mice on a standard diet. They state that, to date, effects on mouse lifespan “have been seen only in mice subjected to diets so high in fat that the principal cause of death was hepatosteatosis” (fatty liver). They also report that results in flies and worms have differed between laboratories.

    Sources: Source [1]Source [2]

Also documented elsewhere on this site

Other supplements we cover that document an interaction with the same thing. This is a pointer to what those pages say, not a statement about taking them together — we have no source reviewing these in combination.

Sources

  1. Effects of resveratrol supplementation on multiple health outcomes: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials
    Nutrition Journal, 2026 · Systematic review · Primary source · Certainty: very low
  2. The effects of resveratrol supplementation in patients with type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials
    The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2021 · Systematic review · Primary source · Certainty: very low
  3. Resveratrol for adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus
    Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2020 · Systematic review · Primary source · Certainty: very low
  4. Resveratrol levels and all-cause mortality in older community-dwelling adults
    JAMA Internal Medicine, 2014 · Observational study · Supporting source
  5. Effect of wine consumption on mortality
    JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015 · Published comment · Not counted toward ratings
  6. Effect of wine consumption on mortality—reply
    JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015 · Published comment · Not counted toward ratings
  7. Rapamycin, but not resveratrol or simvastatin, extends life span of genetically heterogeneous mice
    The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2011 · Animal or laboratory study · Supporting source
    Some of its authors disclose ties to industry.
  8. Evaluation of resveratrol, green tea extract, curcumin, oxaloacetic acid, and medium-chain triglyceride oil on life span of genetically heterogeneous mice
    The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2013 · Animal or laboratory study · Supporting source
  9. Resveratrol
    LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, 2024 · Health authority summary · Primary source
  10. Safety of synthetic trans-resveratrol as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 258/97
    EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (EFSA Journal), 2016 · Health authority summary · Primary source
  11. Resveratrol
    Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2021 · Health authority summary · Primary source

Page history

Show all 7 changes to this page
  • — Rewritten to the content style guideline; ratings and sources unchanged.
  • — Published. The claims, the longevity outcomes, the safety section and every source passed the site's source and wording reviews, including the revision that added the breastfeeding caution and the published letter and reply on the 2014 mortality study. The owner's decisions are recorded in docs/08-open-decisions.md.
  • — Revised after source and wording review: removed a mention of a letter the page does not cite, reworded the description of the cited letter, and added that the study’s main analysis had already adjusted for sex. No rating changed.
  • — Added a published letter on the Italian mortality study, and the study authors’ reply with results for men and women separately. No rating changed.
  • — Added what LactMed, a US government database on medicines and breastfeeding, says about resveratrol during breastfeeding. No rating changed.
  • — Revised after source and wording review: removed the SIRT1 entry, which no rating fitted. Added sensitivity results and fatty-liver findings to the rated claims. No remaining rating changed.
  • — Drafted.