Resveratrol as Antioxidant
An interesting thought from Chris Patil of Ouroboros: "The ability to efficiently scavenge reactive oxygen species such as peroxide makes resveratrol protective against oxidative stress ... Thus the cardioprotective effects of resveratrol (or, if you prefer, the wine in a Mediterranean diet) could be mediated not by the regulatory-biological output of a ligand-receptor interaction but rather by an unassisted chemical reaction between small molecules. ... in order for scientists to make the best choices about how to spend our time, it's important to know how a beneficial molecule is exerting its effects. If it's the receptor-mediated outcome that is most desirable, then we should be working on better ligands: molecules that bind more tightly to the proteins that actually generate the relevant output. On the other hand, if the growing family of salubrious natural products turn out to be valuable primarily for their antioxidant activity, then we should be focusing on generating highly effecting antioxidant compounds that can target every tissue and subcellular structure in the body." On the third hand, it seems to me that both are short-termist, considering the presence of far more promising projects aimed at reversing age-related decline.
Link: http://ouroboros.wordpress.com/2007/01/17/resveratrol-as-an-antioxidant/