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Dear Beauty-Conscious Reader,
Resveratrol has made a lot of headlines for everything it can do for your body. It helps maintain circulation and blood pressure, is a powerful antioxidant, and promotes healthy arteries.
It even activates your “anti-aging genes” called sirtuins. Sirtuins put your cells into “slow down” mode and can extend lifespan.
Resveratrol used to be the only nutrient we knew of that could do this… until now.
Because resveratrol has a cousin that may be even more effective. It’s called pterostilbene (pronounced tare-oh-STILL-bean). It can give you many of the same benefits, and when you look at the preliminary research, perhaps even a few more that resveratrol doesn’t give you.
For example, studies have shown pterostilbene works harder to support the colon, brain, and cardiovascular system.1,2
In one study, researchers found that pterostilbene lowered cellular stress and improved cognition in animals.
Both resveratrol and pterostilbene have remarkable effects on learning and memory. Pterostilbene was the most effective resveratrol-like compound at preventing loss of the neurotransmitter dopamine from memory centers in aging animals.3
Supplementation with pterostilbene reversed cognitive behavioral deficits. This study showed working memory function was correlated with levels of pterostilbene in the hippocampus, a key brain location where memory is processed.
Pterostilbene is also better than resveratrol at promoting healthy, normal inflammatory response.4
But there are a few other differences. For starters, pterostilbene is more bioavailable.5 That means it gets absorbed into tissues more easily, so it can have its most beneficial effect.
And while resveratrol fights free radicals in your bloodstream, pterostilbene targets these inflammatory molecules in a different way. In clinical studies, pterostilbene seems to block an enzyme that ordinarily would make some free radicals stronger.6
You can get pterostilbene from some of the same sources as resveratrol. Red-skinned grapes have some, as do vaccinium berries like blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries, bilberries, and the sparkleberry.
Pterostilbene and resveratrol are found together in nature, and also work together in your body. When you combine them, the results are even better than using one without the other.7
The problem is, it’s very difficult to get an effective amount of both from drinking red wine or eating red grapes or bilberries. In cases like this, I recommend you supplement.
Make sure you get a supplement that has both resveratrol and pterostilbene listed on the label. A good one I found is called Advanced ResV Plus.
I like this formula because it also includes grape seed extract, so you get the most effective plant nutrients you can get from red grapes. If you’d like to try this advanced supplement for yourself, just click here.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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1. Nutakul W, et al, “Inhibitory effects of resveratrol and pterostilbene on human colon cancer cells: a side-by-side comparison,” J Agric Food Chem. 2011;59(20):10964-70.
2. Mikstacka R, et al, “Antioxidant effect of trans-resveratrol, pterostilbene, quercetin and their combinations in human erythrocytes in vitro,” Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2010;65:57-63.
3. Joseph JA, Fisher DR, Cheng V, Rimando AM, Shukitt-Hale B. “Cellular and behavioral effects of stilbene resveratrol analogues…” J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Nov 26;56(22):10544-51.
4. Chang J, et al, “Low-dose pterostilbene, but not resveratrol, is a potent neuromodulator in aging and Alzheimer’s disease,” Neurobiol Aging. 2011 Oct 7. [Epub ahead of print] 5. Kapetanovic IM, et al, “Pharmacokinetics, oral bioavailability, and metabolic profile of resveratrol and its dimethylether analog, pterostilbene, in rats,” Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2011;68(3):593-601.
6. Mikstacka R, et al, “Inhibition of human recombinant cytochromes P450 CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 by trans-resveratrol methyl ethers,” Mol Nutr Food Res. 2007;51(5):517-24.
7. Mikstacka R, et al, “Antioxidant effect of trans-resveratrol, pterostilbene, quercetin and their combinations in human erythrocytes in vitro,” Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2010;65:57-63.
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