Do Your Resveratrol Supplements Provide Any Health Benefits?
Mark David Peters asked:
Undoubtedly this herbal extract from grapes or other botanical sources will continue to be widely acclaimed. Its potential health benefits are endless. It is even billed as an anti-aging pill.
Many brands of resveratrol pills are promoted, with new brands popping up frequently. But the manufacturers of these pills often make disease claims that are forbidden by the FDA, and borrow science that was conducted in a lab dish to claim their products are equivalent to research-grade resveratrol.
To date, there are no published human studies involving resveratrol supplements, only population studies of red wine drinkers who obtain resveratrol from their favorite beverage.
Resveratrol Degrades Rapidly
Laboratory researchers know that, once extracted from a botanical source, resveratrol is unstable, subject to degradation by light, heat and oxygen. Exposure to light can cause resveratrol to photo-isomerize, that is, change into a different molecule – from trans to cis resveratrol. [Se Pu 22:583-8, 2004; J Chromatography A 1074:133-8, 2005]
It is trans- resveratrol that activates the sirtuin 1 gene involved in DNA repair and which is believed to produce the anti-aging benefits of resveratrol.
Harvard researchers, who initially reported on the potential health benefits of resveratrol in 2003, have continually indicated most resveratrol dietary supplements are useless.
This is being ignored by the supplement makers. There is little effort taken to preserve resveratrol, other than place it in a dark bottle, once it is extracted.
One new brand makes the deceptive claim that it provides 400 milligrams of “red wine extract” per capsule — but that is not resveratrol, it is powder from red grapes.
When tested by an independent laboratory, the 400 milligram red wine extract provided less than 1 milligram of resveratrol per capsule. The manufacturer’s website even unfairly maligns its competitors, stating: “It’s shocking to see formulas that have as little as FIVE milligrams of red wine extract in them – that’s a major rip-off!”
Resveratrol, like many other dietary supplements, including vitamin C, can degrade upon exposure to the elements. Special encapsulation techniques must be employed to preserve polyphenols like resveratrol.
One brand of resveratrol, Longevinex, encapsulates resveratrol in an airtight opaque capsule (Licaps, Capsugel) which is then placed in a foil-sealed package and has been tested to maintain its contents without degradation for over a year.
Anticipate resveratrol pills to continue to be widely promoted, but when it comes to actually getting trans-resveratrol in a supplement, it’s a hit and miss proposition.
Undoubtedly this herbal extract from grapes or other botanical sources will continue to be widely acclaimed. Its potential health benefits are endless. It is even billed as an anti-aging pill.
Many brands of resveratrol pills are promoted, with new brands popping up frequently. But the manufacturers of these pills often make disease claims that are forbidden by the FDA, and borrow science that was conducted in a lab dish to claim their products are equivalent to research-grade resveratrol.
To date, there are no published human studies involving resveratrol supplements, only population studies of red wine drinkers who obtain resveratrol from their favorite beverage.
Resveratrol Degrades Rapidly
Laboratory researchers know that, once extracted from a botanical source, resveratrol is unstable, subject to degradation by light, heat and oxygen. Exposure to light can cause resveratrol to photo-isomerize, that is, change into a different molecule – from trans to cis resveratrol. [Se Pu 22:583-8, 2004; J Chromatography A 1074:133-8, 2005]
It is trans- resveratrol that activates the sirtuin 1 gene involved in DNA repair and which is believed to produce the anti-aging benefits of resveratrol.
Harvard researchers, who initially reported on the potential health benefits of resveratrol in 2003, have continually indicated most resveratrol dietary supplements are useless.
This is being ignored by the supplement makers. There is little effort taken to preserve resveratrol, other than place it in a dark bottle, once it is extracted.
One new brand makes the deceptive claim that it provides 400 milligrams of “red wine extract” per capsule — but that is not resveratrol, it is powder from red grapes.
When tested by an independent laboratory, the 400 milligram red wine extract provided less than 1 milligram of resveratrol per capsule. The manufacturer’s website even unfairly maligns its competitors, stating: “It’s shocking to see formulas that have as little as FIVE milligrams of red wine extract in them – that’s a major rip-off!”
Resveratrol, like many other dietary supplements, including vitamin C, can degrade upon exposure to the elements. Special encapsulation techniques must be employed to preserve polyphenols like resveratrol.
One brand of resveratrol, Longevinex, encapsulates resveratrol in an airtight opaque capsule (Licaps, Capsugel) which is then placed in a foil-sealed package and has been tested to maintain its contents without degradation for over a year.
Anticipate resveratrol pills to continue to be widely promoted, but when it comes to actually getting trans-resveratrol in a supplement, it’s a hit and miss proposition.
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December 3rd, 2009 | Resveratol Supplements
