The Best Sources of Resveratrol in Food

Whenever you hear what's good about red wine, you may also hear the word "resveratrol," a component of red wine that is said to heal damaged cells and have beneficial cardiovascular effects. Other foods contain resveratrol, so you may be able to get its purported benefits in other ways than drinking red wine.

• The skins of red and purple grapes are rich in resveratrol.

Definition and Benefits

• According to the Linus Pauling Institute, resveratrol is a natural compound found "in grapes, wine, grape juice, peanuts, and berries...including blueberries, bilberries and cranberries." Because it has antioxidant properties, it slows down cancer-cell growth, even killing cancer cells. Resveratrol is also found to reduce cardiovascular disease and "inhibit the development of cancer," according to the institute.

Red Wine

• Though most red wines contain resveratrol, Spanish red wine has the highest concentration of because of the length of time during fermentation the grape skins are left in the wine juice, increasing its resveratrol content.

Grape Juice

• Red or purple grape juice was shown to have similar levels of resveratrol of Spanish red wine in a 1999 study from the University of Barcelona in Spain: "Due to their resveratrol content... grape juices may have a beneficial health effect of interest to those who cannot drink wine."

Grapes

• Studies in 2008 at the Peninsula Medical School in England showed resveratrol from grape skins can be helpful in treating diabetes, in addition to heart disease and cancer.

Peanuts

• A 1999 study at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Georgia revealed that boiled peanuts have the highest level of resveratrol, followed by peanut butter, then roasted peanuts.

Japanese Knotweed, or Hu Zhang

• Japanese knotweed, also called hu zhang, contains resveratrol. Studies in 2001 at the Ehime University in Japan showed knotweed reduced and prevented tumor growths in mice with lung cancers.