Is Resveratrol legal in the United Kingdom?

Resveratrol is the grape and red wine compound behind the first big wave of anti-ageing research. It is one of the most tested supplements on this site, with over 150 finished registered studies. The results conflict, and they split by who took it and how much, rather than pointing one way. No trial in people has measured lifespan or any hard health result like heart attacks or death.

Resveratrol is a plant compound found in grapes and red wine. It became the world's best known longevity molecule after lab and animal papers in the 2000s.

How it works: The main idea is that resveratrol switches on SIRT1, an enzyme that needs NAD+ to work. That in turn sets off signals, AMPK and PGC-1alpha, that copy parts of eating less.

Approval history: Dietary supplement; not an approved drug. Labels may say how it supports the body, with the disclaimer the US supplement law requires, but may not claim to treat or prevent a disease

Licenses medicines for sale in the UK. A compound without a licence to be sold (a marketing authorisation) is an unlicensed medicine. The law only lets it reach people through a prescriber, under the specials scheme (unlicensed medicines made for one patient's needs). It cannot be sold as a research product.

The legal category above is how The Longevity Archive reads Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency listings for Resveratrol on the reviewed date. It is not a legal opinion. Rules change. Bringing a compound into the country, prescribing it and owning it can each be treated differently. Check with the agency before you act on anything here.

Check MHRA directly

Whether Resveratrol is banned in sport is set by the World Anti-Doping Code and by military rules, not by its legal status in the United Kingdom. Before you compete or get tested, look up Resveratrol by name on the Prohibited List, or look up a named product in Global DRO. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, category S0 bans, at all times, any drug-like substance that meets two tests. No other section of the List covers it. And no government health regulator anywhere has a current approval for it as a treatment in people. Many substances that are approved somewhere are banned by name in another section. So approval does not mean a substance is allowed in sport.

• WADA Prohibited List
• Global DRO (check a named product)
• USADA (US athletes)
• Operation Supplement Safety (US service members)

The rules you compete or serve under decide this, not this page.