If you have been paying attention to the media in recent years you have no doubt heard wild claims made about resveratrol, a naturally occurring substance found most commonly in red wine grapes. Media outlets ranging from 60 Minutes to Fortune Magazine to the New York Times have published resveratrol reviews that have hailed the compound as a wonder drug.

With all the hype surrounding resveratrol it’s important to separate speculation from fact. While resveratrol capsules are indeed an incredibly promising antioxidant, not all of its health benefits have been proven in humans.

Scientists first identified the beneficial aspects of resveratrol while studying the so-called “French paradox.” Researchers have long known that French people have a relatively low incidence of heart disease while consuming a high-fat diet. The large quantity of red wine that the French typically consume was recognized an important factor to explain this paradox, and specifically the resveratrol contained in the red wine was thought to be the key.

The excitement around resveratrol came to a head in 2006 when the Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging released a reportthat found resveratrol could offset the negative effects of a high-fat diet in mice and could significantly extend their lifespan.

In this landmark study, two groups of mice were fed high calorie diets and one of the groups received large doses of resveratrol. Mice that received the resveratrol lived many months longer than the mice that did not get it. The researchers also noticed that resveratrol significantly improved the mice’s physical quality of life, giving them improved motor skills even as they got older.

Follow-up studies have confirmed these initial results and have also found evidence of a myriad of benefits from resveratrol. Protection against heart disease, warding off of certain cancers, increased metabolism and weight loss are just a few of the many benefits that have been observed in resveratrol studies.

The excitement about resveratrol has continued to grow, but what gets lost in the hype is that these results have not yet been shown in humans. In fact, researchers are not sure how high a dose of resveratrol would be needed to replicate these results in adults. While resveratrol is thought to be safe in smaller doses, there has not been much safety testing completed yet on higher doses commonly found in resveratrol supplements.

While researchers caution that these are still early days, some prominent doctors such as David Sinclair of Harvard who performed the landmark study have recently disclosed that they have begun to add resveratrol supplements to their diet.

So if doctors are starting to take resveratrol for its anti-aging properties, should you? That’s a question only you and your doctor can answer.

If you are thinking about adding resveratrol to your diet, educate yourself on this nutrient and carefully study the ingredients of any supplement you are taking. Not all resveratrol supplements are created equal and, in fact, there have been news reports of some pills being mislabeled. As with any substance you consume, make sure you know what you are taking before putting it in your body.