What Foods Have the Highest Resveratrol?

The foods with the highest resveratrol quantities are berries and grapes. Resveratrol is particularly associated with the outer skin of these foods, and in nature, it is used to protect the plants as part of their natural immune systems. It can also be found in peanuts and Japanese knotweed root. Even peanut butter has a significant amount of resveratrol in it, but generally, plants with resveratrol are better eaten in a natural state. The only exception is red wine, which is considered the best way to get resveratrol from grapes.

Plants generally produce resveratrol around the area of their outer skins as a protective substance, and any food process that removes the skin can get rid of the resveratrol as well. It can also be lost during any sort of cooking procedure. The fermentation of red wine actually leads to the creation of more resveratrol because the skin stays on the grapes while it's being fermented, and they continue producing resveratrol to protect themselves.

Many experts are generally excited about many potential benefits of resveratrol, and as a result, some have suggested that people consume foods with the highest resveratrol sources they can find. These experts cite studies that suggest resveratrol might be able to lessen the chance of heart attack, slow down the aging process, fight cancer, and even help lose weight.

Many skeptics are wary of these studies because they generally have only involved animals. No clinical trials involving the effectiveness of resveratrol in humans have been completed. These skeptics suggest that any effectiveness of resveratrol on rats may be irrelevant, and they argue that people can’t necessarily expect the same results. They also suggest that there might be unknown dangers involved in the use of resveratrol.

Even the foods with the highest resveratrol don’t actually contain all that much. For this reason, some companies have produced formulas with the highest resveratrol quantities they can manage. Some of these supplements have more than 100 times more resveratrol than any natural food. Some critics argue that these quantities have a potential to be unsafe, while proponents suggest that rats in successful lab tests were given similar quantities of the substance.

Many of the plants that contain resveratrol have some possible side effects. For example, Japanese knotweed contains an acid that can potentially lead to arthritic symptoms. Some experts also worry that resveratrol might thin the blood too much and that it may have bad interactions with other medicines.