Resveratrol

Most people connect resveratrol , if they have even heard about it, with red wine, mostly due to the media attention about the Harvard research done by David Sinclair and others. If you have arrived at this blog you undoubtedly have seen the 60 minutes story, or the Oprah show with the infamous Dr. Oz – they have been capitalized on and hijacked by most of the Resveratrol marketers as definitive proof that you should buy their particular brand. These ads perpetuate the Resveratrol red wine connection further by graphically using images of vineyards, wine, and even grapes – hmm – come to think of it I am guilty of it too!!!

The reason for this is simply the acknowledgement of the fact that most people still associate Resveratrol with red wine and vineyard grapes. The fact of the matter, is that Resveratrol exists in many common plants and food such as peanuts, blueberries, lingonberries, sparkleberries, cranberries, deerberries, partridgeberries, bilberries, eucalyptus, spruce, pine, and lily. The most abundant and cheapest Resveratrol source is from the Japanese knotweed (Polygonum Capsidatum)

Japanese Knotweed is the primary source for the majority of Resveratrol supplements because of its abundance, ease of extraction, and economic cost. The source of Resveratrol is not as important as the marketers want you to believe though. Ultimately though, Resveratrol has a specific molecular structure and is isolated thus from any of these sources – in the end it is the same molecule.

One company has recently come out with a liquid supplement that is trying to capitalize on this same misconception. I was in Costco the other day loading up on my bi-weekly family size grocery packs and other tantalizing consumer goods they interweave throughout the warehouse. Arriving at the lunch hour rush, meant I was bumping carts perpetually gravitating towards the sample tables. One in particular jumped out to me – they were sampling a new Resveratrol infused beverage supplement called Reversitall Plus by a company called Neocell.

Resversitall Plus supplement’s key selling point is that it derives its resveratrol from red wine and muscadine grapes. It uses a full glass of red wine and a bowl full of red muscadine grapes in its advertising literature to hammer this point home to the uninformed masses roaming the isles of Costco hunting for their next free snack!

The pitch is that you get your dose of Resveratrol and some other antioxidant nutrients from pomegranate without the alcohol. I checked out the dosage of Resveratrol on their website, because it wasn’t listed in their brochure and it was stated as providing 2 mg (2000mcg) for two tablespoons. A dose they claim equal to drinking 1 bottle of red wine. They also claim a superior patented process that preserves and delivers a bioactive concentration of Resveratrol that is easily absorbed in the body.

I did try my sample and it tasted pretty good. My main thought was it was great that Resveratrol awareness was now main stream and more people would soon start getting the potential benefits from this wonderful little molecule that is exciting researchers worldwide.