Does resveratrol really help protect cells against ageing?

Resveratrol demonstrably protects skin cells against damage from free radicals and UV radiation. Both cell and animal research show that it reduces oxidative damage, slows the breakdown of collagen, and dampens inflammatory responses following exposure to UVA and UVB radiation. Those results are consistent, but they come almost exclusively from the laboratory and from mouse studies.

In those same models, resveratrol also stimulates the production of collagen, the protein that keeps skin firm, through multiple pathways simultaneously. It also triggers a cellular clean-up process (in which cells break down and reuse damaged components) that resembles what happens during fasting. In humans, however, this has not been confirmed in large clinical trials.

That brings us to the biggest bottleneck: resveratrol works poorly in the human body. After ingestion, it is rapidly broken down before it reaches its target. This partly explains why the impressive laboratory results do not automatically mean that supplements protect your cells.

The gap between the lab and real-world practice is already visible in brain research. Although animal and cell studies showed protective effects on brain cells, clinical trials in people with cognitive decline or Alzheimer's disease provide no evidence of any benefit. That is a clear signal that caution is warranted when it comes to claims about resveratrol as an anti-ageing agent for humans.