Resveratrol improves health and survival of mice on a high-calorie diet

Baur JA, Pearson KJ, Price NL, Jamieson HA, Lerin C, Kalra A · Nature

The paper that launched the field: resveratrol shifted the physiology of high-calorie-fed mice toward that of standard-diet mice and significantly increased their survival, with better insulin sensitivity, lower IGF-1, raised AMPK and PGC-1alpha activity, more mitochondria and improved motor function.

Population

Middle-aged mice on a high-calorie diet

Intervention

Dietary resveratrol

Comparator

High-calorie diet alone

Limitations

The survival benefit was measured against obese mice, not healthy ones — resveratrol rescued a diet-induced deficit rather than extending normal lifespan, a distinction the companion study and the Interventions Testing Program both went on to make explicit.