It’s long been a mystery why the French, who eat a diet high in calories and fat, typically live longer and healthier lives than Americans — now we know it may be that they drink so much wine that’s the answer.

This fact isn’t coincidental. The real solution to the mystery seems to be resveratrol. This is a compound that a handful of plants produce in the skins of their fruit to fight off bacterial and parasitic fungal infections, and it works by being a powerful anti-oxidant.

The only issue as far as the French Paradox was concerned was that researchers weren’t sure that there was enough resveratrol in the typical French diet for it to be clinically significant.

In nearly all cases in the lab, administering resveratrol produced benefits basically without fail. The lucky mice who were given resveratrol lived longer, but that’s just one part of it. They also had more energy and more lean muscle than their counterparts.

But hold on, there’s more…

Mice with diabetes who took resveratrol wound up with blood glucose levels that were very close to normal afterwards.

No one claimed this “cured” diabetes, but the benefits were dramatic enough that they warranted some serious human trials.

Of course it couldn’t be long before the internet started to play a part. I’m sure you’re at least aware of the glowing reports that have been describing resveratrol as a true wonder drug that will change the world.

Does it warrant all this attention?

It just may. It’s going to be pretty hard for resveratrol to live up to all of hype. The fountain of youth that we’ve been searching for throughout history is, alas, just a myth.

But maybe, when all is said and done, we might all agree that resveratrol is as close as we can get.

So, at least in my opinion, it’s worth taking the time to look into it. Drug purity laws of course don’t apply to resveratrol or other supplements — they’re not “drugs,” but instead are “nutrional supplements.”

You need to be a little cautious when you buy resveratrol — or any supplement for that matter — to make sure you’re buying a quality product. There is currently no way to organically synthesize resveratrol; it’s all harvested from plants, and that harvesting process takes time and effort. Which means that resveratrol supplements tend to vary in quality, along with their price.

Unfortunately, you can’t just increase your consumption of a certain food to get enough resveratrol to make a difference. In fact, even red wine, which contains high levels of resveratrol, doesn’t do the trick. You’d need to drink several liters — at least 3, or about 5 regular-sized bottles — every day.

So you’re going to have to go with supplements. But what do you need to do to choose the best resveratrol supplements?

What you should look for in a resveratrol supplier is something that doesn’t contain a lot of unnecessary fillers. Store your resveratrol supplements in proper conditions, because they can break down if kept in intense heat or very bright light.

The very first thing I would suggest you do is check out the resveratrol supplements review sites (the links are below), where you’ll find constantly updated reviews. I really like the videos that show how to get the free samples of resveratrol that a lot of companies are giving away. It’s better than trial and error I think, and will most likely wind up saving you a lot of money.

Just to sum up, whichever resveratrol supplements you choose to take, understand that it’s only a part of a health maintenance system. Excerise, a health diet and some attention to your emotional health are still important.

A pill won’t undo all of the damage we do to our bodies by itself, but it the lab tests are to be believed, it can seriously cut down on the time needed for these changes to have a positive effect.