Skip to content

Coming soon. The store is not open yet.

Menu
Full Measure

Safety

Is resveratrol safe while breastfeeding?

Written by the Full Measure editorial team, which sells supplements. Approved for publication by the Full Measure owners. Updated .

Drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed below. How we write these

Quick answer

NIH's LactMed database says no data exist on whether resveratrol passes into breast milk or on its safety for nursing mothers or infants. It adds that supplements usually contain hundreds of times the amount found in wine or foods, so safety during breastfeeding cannot be assured. Anyone who is nursing should ask their doctor first.1

Key facts

  • LactMed says no data exist on the excretion of resveratrol into breast milk or on its safety and efficacy in nursing mothers or infants.1
  • LactMed says resveratrol supplements usually contain hundreds of times the amounts found in wine or other foods, so their safety during breastfeeding cannot be assured.1
  • LactMed says it is probably best to avoid red wine as a source of resveratrol during breastfeeding, and points to its record on alcohol.1
  • LactMed says resveratrol appears to be relatively free from adverse reactions.1
  • NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements says many supplements have not been well tested for safety in women who are nursing.2

What does NIH's breastfeeding database say about resveratrol?

LactMed is the National Institutes of Health's Drugs and Lactation Database. Its resveratrol record, last updated September 20, 2021, says resveratrol has no specific lactation-related uses. It says resveratrol appears to be relatively free from adverse reactions, but that no data exist on its excretion into breast milk or on its safety and efficacy in nursing mothers or infants.1

The record's conclusion is that safety during breastfeeding cannot be assured for supplements. The summary we read gives no infant outcomes, because it reports no data.1

Why does LactMed single out supplements?

LactMed's reason is amount: resveratrol supplements usually contain hundreds of times what wine or other foods provide. These entries from the resveratrol guide show the scale.1

The highest total resveratrol reported in a wine is 36 mg per liter.3

Among 40,685 Spanish adults, the median intake of resveratrol and piceid from food was 100 mcg (0.1 mg) a day, and about a third took in none. Wine supplied 98.4% of it and grapes and grape juice 1.6%, while peanuts, pistachios and berries added less than 0.01%.4

The European Union allows synthetic trans-resveratrol in supplements for adults at up to 150 mg a day.5

What about red wine as a source of resveratrol while nursing?

LactMed says it is probably best to avoid red wine as a source of resveratrol during breastfeeding, and refers readers to its separate record on alcohol for details. We did not open that record, so this page says nothing more about alcohol and milk.1

What about resveratrol skincare while breastfeeding?

The LactMed summary we read is about resveratrol taken as a supplement or in food, and it does not mention products applied to the skin. None of the other sources we opened addresses skincare either. That is not a finding either way, so ask your doctor, midwife or pharmacist about the ingredient list of any skincare product.1

What side effects are reported in adults?

There are no studies in nursing mothers, so the adult findings are the nearest evidence. They do not show what reaches an infant.1

LiverTox lists few side effects: minor stomach upset, nausea, headache and fatigue.6

Diarrhea and other gut symptoms at 2.5 g a day or more; at 2,000 mg twice a day, 6 of 8 healthy adults had diarrhea.7,8

Who should ask a doctor before using resveratrol while nursing?

  • Anyone who is breastfeeding, before using a resveratrol supplement.1,2
  • Anyone who takes a prescription medicine, because resveratrol slowed three liver enzymes that clear many medicines in a study of healthy adults at 1 g a day.9
  • Anyone who takes a blood thinner, because NIH's LiverTox database lists a possible interaction with anticoagulants.6

If you or your baby seem to react to something you take, NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements says to let your health care provider know.2

Questions people ask

Is resveratrol safe while breastfeeding?

LactMed says no data exist on resveratrol in breast milk or on its safety in nursing mothers or infants, and that safety from supplements cannot be assured. Ask your doctor before using one.1

Is resveratrol skincare safe while breastfeeding?

The sources we opened do not address resveratrol skincare products, so there is no finding either way. Ask your doctor, midwife or pharmacist about the ingredient list.1

Is topical resveratrol safe during breastfeeding?

LactMed's resveratrol record covers resveratrol taken as a supplement or in food and does not mention topical use. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about any cream or serum.1

Does resveratrol pass into breast milk?

LactMed says no data exist on whether it does, and that it is probably best to avoid red wine as a source of resveratrol during breastfeeding.1

See what we make

Every product shows its whole label and what its lab report covers. The store opens soon.

See the Full Measure line

Sources

  1. Resveratrol. In: Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed). Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; 2006 onward. Updated September 20, 2021. Chapter summary read through PubMed (PMID 30000939); the Bookshelf page showed a browser check and was not opened. Opened 2026-10-11.
  2. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary Supplements: What You Need To Know. Fact sheet for consumers. Updated January 4, 2023. Opened 2026-10-07.
  3. Bavaresco L, Lucini L, Busconi M, Flamini R, De Rosso M. Wine Resveratrol: From the Ground Up. Nutrients. 2016;8(4):222. Opened 2026-10-07.
  4. Zamora-Ros R, Andres-Lacueva C, Lamuela-Raventós RM, et al. Concentrations of resveratrol and derivatives in foods and estimation of dietary intake in a Spanish population: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Spain cohort. Br J Nutr. 2008;100(1):188-196. Opened 2026-10-07.
  5. European Commission. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1190 of 19 July 2016 authorising the placing on the market of trans-resveratrol as a novel food ingredient under Regulation (EC) No 258/97. Official Journal of the European Union, L 196, 21.7.2016, p. 53. Opened 2026-10-07.
  6. Resveratrol. In: LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; 2012-. Updated November 30, 2024. Opened 2026-10-01.
  7. Brown VA, Patel KR, Viskaduraki M, et al. Repeat dose study of the cancer chemopreventive agent resveratrol in healthy volunteers: safety, pharmacokinetics, and effect on the insulin-like growth factor axis. Cancer Res. 2010;70(22):9003-9011. Opened 2026-10-01.
  8. la Porte C, Voduc N, Zhang G, et al. Steady-State pharmacokinetics and tolerability of trans-resveratrol 2000 mg twice daily with food, quercetin and alcohol (ethanol) in healthy human subjects. Clin Pharmacokinet. 2010;49(7):449-454. Opened 2026-10-07.
  9. Chow HH, Garland LL, Hsu CH, et al. Resveratrol modulates drug- and carcinogen-metabolizing enzymes in a healthy volunteer study. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2010;3(9):1168-1175. Opened 2026-10-01.

This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.