Resveratrol Side Effects in Men
If there is one single supplement out there in the market today that seems to have everyone’s attention for the tremendous health benefits it seems to be able to offer, it would have to be resveratrol. Resveratrol supplements come from red grape extracts and is the healthy component associated with red wine. It is also what is believed to be responsible for the “French paradox”; the fact that people in France have, for years, eaten a diet high in fat (which we associate with heart problems), yet they have significantly lower incidences of heart disease than we do in the United States. Guess what else makes up a large part of the daily dietary habits? Red wine!
For the past several years there have been numerous reports from a lot of high ranking, highly trustworthy and respectable sources discussing the apparent phenomenal health benefits associated with this supplement. Reports from such sources as the NY Times, WebMD.com, Fox News Channel and the television magazine 60 Minutes. These are NOT your late nigh info-mercial souces…
And what are all these sources talking about? What are the potential benefits associated with resveratrol supplementation? Well, among other things how about helping you to lose fat (which is of the utmost importance for anyone who wants to know how to get a six pack fast), gain muscle, work out longer and harder due to improved endurance, helping increase your ability to concentrate as well as helping your memory. And these are all the relatively ‘short term’ benefits.
Further research from places such as Harvard University (as reported in the journal “Nature”) suggest that there are even more impressive long term benefits to this wonder supplement. Benefits that could help in the battle against many of societies long term demons such as heart disease (as mentioned above) as well as cancer and nero-degenerative issues such as Alzheimer’s disease.
So far we have seen that everyday people who are looking to get some general health improvement such as fat loss or better workouts may very well be able to benefit from resveratrol, as can people with chronic conditions (or at high risk for chronic, systemic, life threatening conditions) such as cardiovascular disease or cancer. But who else might this be good for?
How about world-class athletes? That’s right, the team doctor for the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL has written a book about the health benefits and anti-aging properties of various supplements, including resveratrol.
With that many promising studies and reputable sources discussing and even recommending resveratrol supplements, it’s no wonder it is garnering so much attention these days. And it’s no wonder more and more people are looking into adding it to their daily regimen in an effort to get and stay feeling young and healthy. I know I was. (Just to be clear here – resveratrol is a substance, not a product itself. It is used in the products manufactured by different companies, much like vitamin C).
However, as with anything that sounds too good to be true, there are concerns about possible side effects of resveratrol. I figured there might be some, and I knew there were discussions about it, so I decided to do a bit of investigating before jumping in and buying some for myself. And to be honest, I was pretty surprised by what I learned.
As it turns out, there ARE some concerns about negative side effects to taking resveratrol. However, while they do exist, the list turned out to be rather short. And, for the most part, they were concerns that were limited to people with certain conditions, and even then, some of them were limited to only women and not men.
For example, from what I could decipher, there is the possibility of a certain level of estrogen inhibition that can occur with resveratrol supplementation. For some women, this may be a concern. However, for men it is not. There is no reason for men to be concerned with reducing estrogen in their systems that I am aware of (however, I am NOT a doctor; I simply do my best to be informed and to be as healthy as I possibly can be).
One issue that might be of some concern for men is the fact that resveratrol may have some blood thinning effects. For men who are already on prescription blood thinners or have been told to take an aspirin a day for this reason, it would be a very wise idea to discuss additional supplementation with resveratrol with your doctor before starting.
Other than those issues mentioned above, and the fact that some people report some stomach distress when first taking resveratrol, I didn’t find any issues or concerns that would prevent me from trying it and hopefully benefiting from all the positive potential of this supplement. In fact, even with regard to the stomach distress, it seems that different formulations react differently for different people. As such, it’s a good idea to ‘try before you buy’. Fortunately, this is very easy to do as you can get free samples of resveratrol before committing to making it a part of your daily supplement routine.
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