If you have ever understood the many health benefits of wine, then you have at least a cursory understanding of what resveratrol can do for the body. But recent advancements have gone beyond the basic benefits of red wine and have made resveratrol one of the great anti aging supplements. Is it anti aging for skin? You’re about to find out.

What is resveratrol?

For years, scientists have known that red wine is a boon to our health. It is what has explained the “French Paradox”, that reality that while the French eat a good deal of fatty food and drink lots of wine, they stay slim and live longer than Americans. Many years ago, researchers discovered it was the red wine that helped the French stay healthy.

For a good number of years, however, scientists weren’t sure what specifically in the red wine was so beneficial. But today, they know that it’s the resveratrol, which is a compound found in the skin of red grapes. Scientists have reported that the resveratrol activates a gene in our body that slows the aging process. It’s an exciting development, for sure, as more and more of us are looking for ways to do just that.

Benefits of resveratrol

The benefits of resveratrol are significant. The major benefit and the one that really makes the compound so in demand right now, is that it can actually slow the aging process, by as much as 20 years. Scientists have determined that if people get enough of the reseveratrol, they could live that much longer than they might now.

Because resveratrol actually slows the aging process at the cellular level, it also benefits our outer health, or our skin health. In the battle against skin aging, resveratrol is quickly showing itself to be a solid soldier.

Resveratrol has been found in clinical studies to be 17 times more effective than idebenone as an antioxidant for the skin. This means that fighting free radicals and therefore premature aging from stress, sun and a poor diet and other toxins is more effective with topical resveratrol.

Resveratrol orally has been found anecdotally, meaning in user’s experience, to:

1. Reduce redness and inflammation

2. Reduce acne and breakouts (sometimes dramatically)

3. Reduce fine lines and wrinkles

So far the experience has been good, and of cours, there will be no proof until long term studies are made looking specifically at resveratrol in oral form and the skin.

How can you get resveratrol?

While you can drink wine to get the benefits of resveratrol, you have to drink a lot of wine to get the benefit you might get from a supplement. Researchers have discovered that supplements can provide up to 1,000 times the resveratrol in a glass of wine. So while you could try and drink enough wine to get the benefits of the resveratrol, it’s generally not recommended.

Of course, you should still drink red wine for the other benefits, which include heart health and cancer prevention, but to get the best form of resveratrol, most experts suggest taking a supplement.

You can purchase supplements that contain just resveratrol, or you can buy a supplement that contains resveratrol and other anti aging properties together. And finally there is resveratrol cream as well to work on the skin outside as well as in.

There is no one product or supplement that’s going to make you look 20 years younger overnight, but resveratrol is a promising product that can help you fight aging now and in the future.