Resveratrol: What Our Research Shows

Research Article by Lyle Henry

There is much talk today about the next "fountain of youth" discovery - Resveratrol. Resveratrol is a natural substance found in many plants, including grapes, peanuts and Japanese Knotweed. The introduction of resveratrol as a "cure-all" with such claims as its being an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory anti-cancer, antiviral, anti-aging, as well as a weight-loss and performance enhancing panacea, has given rise to its recent popularity.

We are concerned with the effect that resveratrol has on the occurrence of migraines.

Resveratrol is a basic substance found in red wine - in fact, that is how the properties of resveratrol were discovered; however, in resveratrol dietary supplements the concentration is much higher. A 5-ounce glass of red wine provides about 0.30-1.07 mg of resveratrol; by comparison, a dietary supplement can provide 100 mg of resveratrol per capsule. Since we know that red wine can easily trigger migraine headaches, it follows that taking resveratrol could do the same.

Headache is a reported side effect of taking resveratrol. These headaches can start within a day or two of first taking resveratrol and can continue for an extended length of time after stopping resveratrol. This is true even for those who do not get migraines.

The reason why resveratrol triggers migraines is that it promotes vasodilation by enhancing the production of a naturally occurring substance in the body called nitric oxide. If you have been following the migraine research of Tuliv, you have seen that nitric oxide is one of the most prominent factors involved in a migraine headache.

Our recommendation is to avoid resveratrol if you get migraines. If you are going to try it, do so with a controlled test and keep track of your results. You may want to print and use our headache dairy for such a purpose.

To learn more about what to avoid and why, please see Knowing Your Triggers. If you are in doubt about a supplement or something in your diet, please feel free to email us at Questions@Tuliv.net for assistance.

Migraines can be prevented - Read More.

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References for this Article:

Resveratrol Increases Nitric Oxide Synthase, Induces Accumulation of p53 and p21WAF1/CIP1, and Suppresses Cultured Bovine Pulmonary Artery Endothelial CellProliferation by Perturbing Progression through S and G21 -
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology [T-c. H., J. M. W.] and Brander Cancer Research Institute [G. J., Z. D.], New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York 10595
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/11/2596

Resveratrol stimulates nitric oxide production by increasing estrogen receptor -Src-caveolin-1 interaction and phosphorylation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. - Klinge CM, Wickramasinghe NS, Ivanova MM, Dougherty SM. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
http://www.biotivia.com/bioforteresveratrol/evidence/resveratrolstimulatesnitricoxideproduction.html

Upregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene expression after 24 to 72 hours incubation. Resveratrol-enhanced. eNOS expression and activity -
Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, Reinhard Berkels, PhD, Department of Pharmacology University of Cologne, Cologne, German- 2003
http://www.circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/107/11/e78.pdf