The aforementioned study gave mice 22mg of resveratrol per kilogram of body mass per day. That is equivalent to about 1500mg per day for a 150-pound person; other studies have used even higher levels.

However, a new study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, has found a similar benefit to (mouse) life expectancy at much lower levels than these previous studies examined. This NIH-funded study gave the mice 4.9mg of resveratrol per kilogram of body mass per day. This is equivalent to 334mg per day for a 150 pound person.² Researchers believe that resveratrol extends life in much the same way that calorie restricted diets do, by activating the body at a genetic level to produce Sirtuin 1, an enzyme involved in cellular regulation.

In this new study, the University of Wisconsin-based researchers divided "middle-aged" mice (14 months old) in to one of three treatments. The control group received a normal diet (84 calories per week), the normal diet plus 4.9mg/kg of resveratrol daily, or a calorie restricted diet (63 calories per week, 25% fewer than "normal"). The mice were followed until "old age," 30 to 31 months old. The researchers found that in both resveratrol-treated mice and the calorie-restricted mice there were significant inhibitions in the gene profiles associated with cardiac and skeletal muscle aging, and those which "prevent age-related cardiac dysfunction." There was altered gene expression in 92% of the mice given the resveratrol and 90% of the mice who had the calorie-restricted diet. The resveratrol-treated mice also mimic the effects of the calorie restricted diet on insulin-mediated glucose uptake in muscles. The researchers stated that these findings are associated with a prevention in age-related decline of heart function.

The researchers concluded "our studies suggest that dietary consumption of a low dose of resveratrol partially mimics [caloric restriction] and inhibits some aspects of the aging process." Learn more about this exciting antioxidant and read about additional recent research on resveratrol.

1. Baur, J. A., K. J. Pearson, et al. (2006). "Resveratrol improves health and survival of mice on a high-calorie diet." Nature 444(7117): 337-42.

2. Barger JL, Kayo T, Vann JM, Arias EB, Wang J, et al. (2008) A Low Dose of Dietary Resveratrol Partially Mimics Caloric Restriction and Retards Aging Parameters in Mice. PLoS ONE 3(6): e2264 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002264