The Wonders of Resveratrol

Sneak more of this compound into your green juices for a healthier you! We’ve all heard of how moderate amounts of red wine can help improve our metabolism, keep us cancer-free, and even slow down the aging process, but do you know why?

It’s all thanks to a lesser-known compound called resveratrol. Although a fairly new discovery, the compound has been shown to help improve muscle strength, metabolism and even lower the risk for cancer and diabetes. Drinking red wine introduces sufficient amounts of the compound to the body, but resveratrol is also effective as a topical agent. Marks & Spencer has even used their award-winning red wines to create a range of beauty products called “Wine Elixir”, which contains enough resveratrol to increase the production of collagen and reduce wrinkles.

There’s no doubting the wonderful effects resveratrol can have, but you can still have your share of it, even if you don’t drink wine. If you want to increase your intake of resveratrol but aren’t particularly fond of alcohol, you can sneak a bit of it into your green juice instead!

Last year, Katy Salter of  The Guardian wrote about how green juice had become the latest fitness fad — and with good reason. Green juice is filling, surprisingly tasty, quite versatile, and of course, incredibly healthy.

Because green juice is made from leafy veg, it’s already packed full of all the good things: vitamins, minerals, iron, and a bit of fibre. Now, you can add resveratrol to that list of goodies by using the following ingredients in your favourite green juice recipe:

• Red Grapes 

Grapes don’t have to be fermented to produce resveratrol! The compound is found in their skins, so make sure you toss those into the juicer as well!

• Blueberries 

Blueberries don’t have quite the same amount of resveratrol as red grapes do, but they’re great for adding flavour and are also quite rich in dietary fibre and vitamin C.

• Itadori Tea 

Adding a splash of Itadori tea to your juice is a great way to introduce resveratrol to your diet. It’s long been used as an herbal remedy in East Asia, but the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry says that it’s a great alternative source of resveratrol if you don’t particularly enjoy drinking wine.