Image courtesy of Lifespan.
There are substances in the body that provide many benefits many people aren’t aware of. One of those substances is resveratrol. Unlike vitamin C, it’s not something that many people are aware of enough to supplement their diets with, but it comes with many great benefits that will make adding more of it to your diet a great idea.
You can find resveratrol in capsules at the drugstore, or you can enjoy them in food form. When it comes to foods, there are a few good ones you can get this substance from that can be prepared in a number of ways. When you’ll be adding foods to your diet for the benefits, you need to make sure to keep things fresh so that you don’t get bored of eating the same things over and over. We will show you the foods that offer resveratrol and let you know the best ways to prepare them for some nutrient packed variety.
What Is Resveratrol?
Resveratrol is a naturally occurring substance in the body that acts as an antioxidant. It is part of a group of compounds known as polyphenols. Polyphenols are a large group of phenols that include flavonoids, ellagitannin, and tannic acid. They exist abundantly in plants and provide a load of health benefits that have people seeking out more ways to add it to their diet. The good news is, this substance is relatively easy to get from foods, you just have to know which foods to look for. And whenever you are having a hard time accessing resveratrol rich foods, there are supplements available to make the process simpler.
What Are The Benefits of Resveratrol?
Resveratrol has been found to be potentially effective to aid in a number of ailments. It can reduce the symptoms that come from seasonal allergies, improve weight loss results, and decrease pain and swelling. And that’s not where it ends. Resveratrol also reduces blood clotting and provides glucose control. It was even reported to have anti-cancer properties as far back as 1997, and has antioxidant, neuroprotective, and cardiovascular protective qualities.
Antioxidants are a substance in the body that reduces oxidative stress. It protects the body from the harm that can come from free radicals. Free radicals are substances that can cause intense damage in the body, and resveratrol can help prevent that damage and instead increase the benefits that free radicals can bring. Resveratrol’s neuroprotective properties protect against disorders like Parkinson’s disease, Dementia, Alzheimer's, and epilepsy, and cardiovascular protective qualities reduce the risk of cardiovascular illnesses like heart disease, stroke, and heart failure.
What Are the Downsides To Resveratrol?
Resveratrol can have effects on the blood that can be bad for people with certain illnesses or who are on certain medications. It hinders platelet aggregation, which can cause blood thinning and therefore increased bleeding. This is bad for anyone with hemophilia or is taking anti-inflammatory drugs. And if a person regularly takes too much resveratrol, they can experience some nausea, heartburn, diarrhea, and even liver dysfunction.
What Is the Best Way to Absorb Resveratrol?
Resveratrol is best absorbed through food. Studies have shown that when resveratrol is taken along with food, especially the first meal of the day, its concentration in the blood is increased. These same studies show that when you eat a high fat diet, taking resveratrol with food won’t have the same effect since all the fat in the diet will keep the resveratrol from absorbing as well as it should. It is best when taken with food and a diet that isn’t too high in fat.
Foods That Are High In Resveratrol
Resveratrol is a substance that you can easily get through food. It can be found in several foods, so if you want more resveratrol in your diet, you just need to add a few foods to your daily diet. It also helps if your diet feels varied. Adding a few resveratrol high foods to your diet shouldn’t have to mean that it ends up repetitive. Start buying foods that are high in resveratrol and then searching up new ways to make it. We can give you some ideas!
Grapes
One food resveratrol is found most prominently in are grapes, red grapes in particular. Plain grapes are great to eat on their own, but you can also get your resveratrol intake from grape juice or even wine. Red wine has a particularly high concentration of resveratrol because of how long the skin is soaked to make the wine compared to lighter wines like white wine and rose. And among red wines, pinot noir has the highest concentration of it. The red wine with the next highest concentration of resveratrol is merlot. And on top of the resveratrol, grapes are also a good source of vitamins C, K, and B1. They also offer magnesium and potassium.
Nuts
Resveratrol can also be found in some nuts, in particular peanuts and pistachios. Peanuts can be eaten in various ways, which makes it an easy way to get more resveratrol. You can enjoy peanuts salted, roasted, and blended into peanut butter. You can even get it from peanut flour and peanut oil. Peanuts also make a great dessert topping. Enjoy it on top of your ice cream to have some health benefits along with your treat. One interesting way to get some more benefits from peanuts is to boil them. When you boil peanuts, they end up having about as much resveratrol in them as red wine does.
Pistachios are another nut that will offer you plenty of resveratrol. Most of it is located in its skin, and it can be eaten raw or cooked. Pistachios are versatile and great to cook with. Some of the best desserts can be made with pistachios. One popular dessert that features pistachios is baklava, and there are many more delicious possibilities. You can use pistachios in cheesecake, ice cream, macarons, and cupcakes.
Berries
Raspberries are a good source of resveratrol. They are a good source of antioxidants like most berries, and they can be cooked into a whole bunch of foods, especially desserts. Raspberries can be used for pie, lemonade, frozen yogurt, sauce, scones, cakes, and muffins. There are black raspberries and red raspberries, each with their own different flavor profile and the same levels of resveratrol. They are great when used together and when used separately.
Blueberries are another good berry to get this benefit from, and they are a dessert favorite that you can make a lot of great things with. Blueberries are great for pies, tarts, jam, muffins, pancakes, and pound cake. They also make great cobblers, crumbles, and ice cream. Blueberries are a berry favorite when it comes to desserts, and you can only benefit by adding more blueberries to your diet. They make a refreshing snack and are always a hit when added to desserts.
Cranberries are a tasty fruit that most of us don’t get enough of. We always bust it out during the holidays, but during most of the year, we pretty much forget about it. Well cranberries are good sources of resveratrol, which is one good reason to add more of it to your diet. Cranberries are good for you and will taste great in just about any application. There is the traditional cranberry sauce, but there is also cranberry pie, cobbler, cranberry bars, and salad with cranberries in the mix.
Strawberries are sometimes used in salad, so they are a great option for when you want to enjoy berries in a non sweet application. Though strawberries also make great additions to desserts. You can use strawberries to make desserts like cobbler, ice cream, sorbet, strawberry shortcake, and frozen yogurt. Strawberries also make great drinks. Try them in smoothies, margaritas, and strawberry lemonade.
Mullberries. Mullberries are a less popular berry, but offer as much of a benefit as the others. There are many great things that you can make with it even though you might be currently unfamiliar. Some of the things you can do with other berries, you can make with mullberries. There is mulberry jam, pie, and muffins. Berries in general don’t offer as much resveratrol as grapes, but they are pretty close.
Chocolate
Chocolate in all its forms contains a decent amount of resveratrol. You can use the different forms of chocolate to make different things as they work best in different applications. Milk chocolate is great in drinks and desserts, and is most people’s favorite type of chocolate. Milk chocolate will work great when used for hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate brownies and chocolate lava cakes.
Some great desserts you can make with dark chocolate include fudge, salted dark chocolate tarts, truffles, and chocolate bark with nuts, which will add to the resveratrol in the treat. Chocolate covered strawberries taste great when you use dark chocolate. That also applies to pudding, tapioca, cream pie, and even trail mix. Dark chocolate is considered a healthy snack for several reasons, and now you can add resveratrol to that list.
Cocoa powder is a form of chocolate you can use to make many desserts with. Sometimes you can switch out chocolate powder for melted chocolate in a recipe, and sometimes the cocoa powder gives it a whole different quality. When you have cocoa powder, some of the delicious desserts you can make are chocolate cake, brownies, chocolate almond cake, and chocolate truffle cheesecake. Whichever form of chocolate you eat, you will benefit from about the same level of resveratrol.
Where To Buy Resveratrol
Resveratrol is something that you can find from several sources. Aside from the foods you can find it in, you can get your resveratrol in supplements if that happens to be more compatible with your lifestyle. These supplements can be found online and in person. If you want to get some in person, then you will need to go to GNC, Walgreens, and the Vitamin Shoppe. Online, you can get resveratrol from Amazon, Dr. Emil, Gaia Herbs, and Walmart as well as Target’s online shops.
Resveratrol has qualities that will help you deal with and prevent a number of different symptoms that can impact your body significantly, including:
- Advanced antioxidants. Resveratrol’s antioxidant properties promote healthy aging, which promotes longevity. You’ll get anti-inflammatory benefits as well as every other benefit antioxidants bring.
- Heart health support. Resveratrol supports healthy blood pressure, lowers bad cholesterol, and overall improves cardiovascular health. This will lead to an overall better functioning heart and will ward off potential issues that may come in the future.
- Immune function support. Immune function support will help ward off illnesses, from severe ones that can affect your quality of life to minor ones that can affect your week.
Resveratrol is a little known substance that offers great benefits to the body. If you are suffering the effects of aging or a weakened immune system, resveratrol will help turn some things around for you. And the great part is, you can get plenty of resveratrol through delicious foods that taste great in dessert recipes.
