Resveratrol
What is resveratrol?
Resveratrol is a plant compound found in small amounts in grape skins and red wine. It became famous in the 2000s as a possible activator of sirtuins, proteins linked to aging, after it helped mice on a high-calorie diet live longer. Some people take a gram a day. Human trials show small, inconsistent effects and no proof it slows aging.
Listed here because well-known people have tried it on themselves. Trying something is not recommending it; each entry says whether the person tells others to do it.
Who has tried it
Tried by 2 people we can source: 2 kept.
Kept
David SinclairGeneticist at Harvard Medical School, author of Lifespan
Dates not stated · Does not recommend it to others
Takes 1 g every morning, always with a little fat such as olive oil or yogurt, which he says it needs to be absorbed.
Peter Diamandis, Updated Longevity Protocols for 2026: What David Sinclair and I Are Actually Doing (April 2026) · Status checked April 21, 2026 · Suggest a correction
Ben GreenfieldFitness and biohacking coach, author
Dates not stated · Does not recommend it to others
Takes a couple of capsules each morning of a product that pairs resveratrol with NR, as part of his routine to raise NAD+.
“I take Thorne’s ResveraCel, which combines a sirtuin, in this case, resveratrol, with NAD, and I take a couple of those in the morning”
Ben Greenfield Life, Episode #430 transcript (June 2021) · Status checked June 24, 2021 · Suggest a correction
What the evidence shows
In people, results point both ways. Thirty days of 150 mg a day changed energy metabolism in 11 men with obesity in ways that resembled calorie restriction [1], but a placebo-controlled trial of a higher dose in 24 men with obesity found no effect on insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, body fat or inflammation [2]. In older men starting high-intensity training, 250 mg a day blunted the gains in fitness and blood pressure [3].
Pooled trials show benefits mainly in people with diabetes. A meta-analysis of 11 trials found lower glucose and insulin in people with diabetes and no effect in people without it [4], and a 2021 umbrella review judged most effects trivial or the evidence weak [5]. In 783 older adults in Italy followed for nine years, resveratrol levels from diet were not linked to death rates [6].
In mice, resveratrol improved health and survival on a high-calorie diet [7] but did not extend lifespan on a standard diet in the Interventions Testing Program [8]; David Sinclair co-authored both studies. Whether resveratrol activates sirtuins directly is disputed [9]. No study has tested whether it extends life in people. It is not an approved drug for any condition and is sold as a supplement.
Safety
- Resveratrol is sold as a supplement, not an approved drug, and the FDA does not check supplements for purity or dose before they are sold.
- High doses can upset the stomach.
- In one trial it blunted the fitness gains older men got from exercise training [@gliemann2013].
- It may add to the effect of blood thinners and interact with other drugs, so anyone on medication should ask a physician first.
Common questions
Does David Sinclair take resveratrol?
Yes. As of April 2026 he takes 1 g every morning with a little fat such as olive oil or yogurt. The only change he has described is in what he mixes it with; we found no report that he has stopped or cut the dose.
Does resveratrol extend lifespan?
Is red wine a good source of resveratrol?
No. Wine contains far less than the doses used in trials, and resveratrol levels from diet were not linked to longer life in older adults [6].
Does resveratrol interfere with exercise?
In one trial of older men, 250 mg a day reduced the gains in fitness and blood pressure from eight weeks of high-intensity training [3].
Sources
- 1.Timmers S, Konings E, Bilet L, et al. Calorie restriction-like effects of 30 days of resveratrol supplementation on energy metabolism and metabolic profile in obese humans. Cell Metab, 2011. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2011.10.002
- 2.Poulsen MM, Vestergaard PF, Clasen BF, et al. High-dose resveratrol supplementation in obese men: an investigator-initiated, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of substrate metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and body composition. Diabetes, 2013. doi:10.2337/db12-0975
- 3.Gliemann L, Schmidt JF, Olesen J, et al. Resveratrol blunts the positive effects of exercise training on cardiovascular health in aged men. J Physiol, 2013. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2013.258061
- 4.Liu K, Zhou R, Wang B, Mi MT. Effect of resveratrol on glucose control and insulin sensitivity: a meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr, 2014. doi:10.3945/ajcn.113.082024
- 5.Zeraattalab-Motlagh S, Jayedi A, Shab-Bidar S. 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. Am J Clin Nutr, 2021. doi:10.1093/ajcn/nqab250
- 6.Semba RD, Ferrucci L, Bartali B, et al. Resveratrol levels and all-cause mortality in older community-dwelling adults. JAMA Intern Med, 2014. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.1582
- 7.Baur JA, Pearson KJ, Price NL, et al. Resveratrol improves health and survival of mice on a high-calorie diet. Nature, 2006. doi:10.1038/nature05354
- 8.Miller RA, Harrison DE, Astle CM, et al. Rapamycin, but not resveratrol or simvastatin, extends life span of genetically heterogeneous mice. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2011. doi:10.1093/gerona/glq178
- 9.Pacholec M, Bleasdale JE, Chrunyk B, et al. SRT1720, SRT2183, SRT1460, and resveratrol are not direct activators of SIRT1. J Biol Chem, 2010. doi:10.1074/jbc.M109.088682