Is Pterostilbene More Potent than Resveratrol?
Research is indicating Pterostilbene has promise of being more effective than resveratrol in treating or improving glucose levels, cognitive function, heart health, and anti-aging.
Research on Pterostilbene has followed the same path as resveratrol, especially since the research has taken place in many countries and in many different types of laboratories. Some of the research has been formalized with patents being generated and licenses granted to produce a new supplement product.
One example of the more formalized research is the work carried out at the University of Mississippi and U.S Department of Agriculture, and this resulted in patents being filed and licenses granted. But other research has been carried out both in the U.S. and abroad. The really important progress in this research by all of the laboratories are the clinical studies that will develop the refined and practical uses of Pterostilbene. Research will progress from animal studies to human trials which will not be controlled by the pharmaceutical companies, and will result in publication of each study’s findings. This will make the use of Pterostilbene as a nutritional supplement safer and broaden its application in treating many of the human health issues that require its aid.
Pterostilbene has the potential to be the most significant new dietary supplement that holistic medicine has seen in many years. This will be understood better if we examine some of the areas in which Pterostilbene is known to be effective.
Cognition and Memory: Resveratrol and Pterostilbene are demonstrating striking effects on learning and memory. Researchers found Pterostilbene was the most successful of a group of resveratrol-like compounds at preventing loss of the neurotransmitter dopamine from memory centers in aged rats. Cognitive behavioral deficits were reversed with the supplementation of Pterostilbene. It was found in this study that working memory function was found to correlate with the levels of Pterostilbene in the hippocampus, a brain location where memory is processed.
Closer examination revealed another correlation between Pterostilbene and caloric restriction gene expression. It was found that supplementation with blue berries (richest source of Pterostilbene) improved performance of aged animals after three weeks of supplementation in working memory. This improvement was directly tied to the activation of a brain-signaling protein in the hippocampus. Another scientific study found improvement in memory is another direct result of caloric restriction. Pterostilbene’s ability to mimic these fundamental changes in brain chemistry is a very dynamic understanding of an ancient survival mechanism.
Caloric Restriction: On a molecular level, it was found that Pterostilbene impersonates the beneficial effects of caloric restriction. This directly blocks cancer-causing genes while up-regulating genes acting to stimulate apoptosis, (cell suicide) and down-regulating those allowing cancer to spread through the tissues and start new cancer tumors. Gene expression is changed by calorie restriction continually as the metabolic process proceeds. Powerful fat-sensing complexes increased in activity and lowered blood lipids and sugar levels.
Calorie restriction in the liver positively modifies a number of vital glucose-regulating enzymes and aids in controlling blood sugar. Pterostilbene yields identical positive changes in many of the enzymes. Markers of dangerous glucose-damaged proteins are also reduced by Pterostilbene.
Inflammation is reduced by calorie restriction linked to age related health conditions, i.e. atherosclerosis, chronic inflammatory diseases, and it also includes cognitive decline. Pterostilbene, at the level of gene expression, exerts almost the same effects, depressing the genes in studies of inflammation-related conditions. Mimicking calorie restriction, Pterostilbene up-regulates specific brain proteins related to improved memory.
Cancer Prevention: Current research has produced a growing collection of evidence that Pterostilbene is an effective chemoprevention. It has a powerful antioxidant capacity similar to resveratrol, and the anti-inflammatory capacity of Pterostilbene acted to stop the inflammation-cancer connection. It was also found that it blocked the growth of very dangerous human melanoma cells and prevented the spread of cancer cells to the livers of laboratory test animals, increasing survival.
Pterostilbene has accomplished many dramatic effects by multiple mechanisms. It accomplishes this by blocking production of molecules used by cancer cells to attach or stick to tissue walls. This also makes them vulnerable to immune-system destruction.
When Pterostilbene is considered at the total-organism level, it depresses or blocks formation of pre-cancerous cells in the colons of animals exposed to carcinogen conditions. It has also been found that radiation and chemotherapy treatment of implanted colon cancers have been successfully eliminated with a combination of quercetin and Pterostilbene.
Korean researchers concluded in their research that Pterostilbene is a successful and effective chemopreventive agent. They believe it would be very helpful if Pterostilbene was used in a dietary plan for improving an individual’s health.
Research has found resveratrol activates genes near the beginning of the molecular surge created by caloric restriction, releasing an array of disease preventing genes that are activated in this way. One scientist referred to this by saying resveratrol’s genetic action happens upstream. Pterostilbene, on the other hand, activates genes down stream, and this compliments resveratrol’s capacity to help prevent cancer, diabetes and give support to healthy blood lipids. When resveratrol and Pterostilbene act together, they produce very strong longevity-promoting effects with the cycle of gene expression.
Last year heated competition developed between the pharmaceutical companies and the nutritional supplement companies. This competition came about because the drug companies wanted to have resveratrol declared a restrictive compound that the nutritional supplement companies could not produce or sell. The issues surrounding animal studies and human trials created some difficult situations because the drug companies stopped publishing the results of their research studies. While all of this was going on, there were several research groups on both sides of the controversy starting or doing research on possible replacements for resveratrol. The drug companies wanted to find stronger and more effective ways of developing successful drugs to treat major degenerative diseases. Whereas, the nutritional supplement companies wanted to build stronger and more successful products they could market; and when the preliminary research on Pterostilbene demonstrated the molecular ties between resveratrol and Pterostilbene, new opportunities began to appear. I am not trying to say the competition between the two major groups in this part of medicine has ended. No, it has not. But, we have entered a period in which a great deal of change will be taking place and hopefully this will allow both sides to gain from the current research. We can also be very certain Pterostilbene will not be the only new development when it comes to stilbene discoveries. Grape vines have a good number of compounds that include both resveratrol and Pterostilbene, and there are still a large number of compounds that are just now being examined for the first time. I believe this is very good for the future. As these new compounds are studied and explored, our knowledge will expand and so should our ability to solve our major health problems.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a Doctor and do not give medical advice; this is a news report and cannot substitute for the advice of a medical professional.
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