A few weeks ago I was asked to opine on what ingredient I thought merited recognition in 2011. The answer was easy—even reflexive—but struck the questioners with a counterintuitive splash of cold water to their ears.
 
Several years ago resveratrol enjoyed a trajectory that would stir envy in Sir Richard Branson’s commercial space flight program. The darling of talk show stars like Oprah Winfrey, Mehmet Oz, MD (a Medical Doctor, not a Master of Diet), and exalted to its zenith by the most watched nutrition science TV program, 60 Minutes.
 
Its ability to invoke images of the fermented juice of the sacred grape in an elegant Riedel glass, and exploit the French Paradox as a fulcrum to lift an ostensible credibility load, created a mirage so enticing that it ushered in an online affiliate marketing campaign that eclipsed the other fruit contemporary of the period (which had a paucity of data), acai.
 
My friends and secret agents in the affiliate and online marketing world were giddy from the buzz and the media firepower they could (illegally) wield in creating their landing pages and e-mail blasts to millions of people. All this, and yet the human evidence at the time indicated apparently embarrassing absorption (or lightning fast biotransformation into daughter metabolites of unknown bioactivity and/or identity), and virtually no evidence of consumer-relevant results after oral dosing in humans.
 
A colleague of mine at UC San Diego was collaborating on a few small resveratrol studies (sponsored by U.K.-based drug giant GSK) and a group from SUNY Buffalo had conducted unpublished studies, both looking at insulin action and signaling. But no big evidence avalanche that would come close to aligning with the din of multi media claims that pelted many consumers in the late 2000s. Back in 2003 a “tiny” Dutch company named DSM, and some Swiss and German chemists, worked out a method of synthesizing pure trans-resveratrol (tR). No need for Polygonum cuspidatum roots, or genetically modified organisms (as used by other companies). Over the ensuing years they filed a number of patents, in a number of countries, related to compositions comprising tR, formulations for tableting, personal care products and even water-based foods. To date, only two patents appear to have been granted (both in the U.S.). DSM also funded a battery of toxicology studies, one would assume to mount a data mountain that would enable achieving self-affirmed Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status. Oh, and some cool human studies were underway.
 
A few years later, as resveratrol was approaching its nadir, another phytochemical—a cousin of resveratrol—entered the scene: pterostilbene. Buoyed by being similar but different, it entered with a shout of also being superior. To date, the evidence of consumer relevant efficacy in humans is virtually absent yet the express and implied claims of superiority to the big R remain, and resound. Migration to the little P is happening but not by evidence. Perhaps it is the mirage of being “innovative,” as using R may be deemed as passé, or even sophomoric.
 
What of the “cool human studies” on DSM’s tR, branded as resVida? Well, one study was very recently published in one of the top metabolism journals in the world. It didn’t enroll 200 subjects and supplement them with tR for two years—it had 11 subjects, who took both a placebo and 150 mg of resVida for 30 days each, separated by a 28 day “washout” period. But it did find three cool things: 1) metabolic mimicking of calorie restriction, 2) a drop in systolic blood pressure and a trend for improved insulin action and 3) an endurance exercise-mimicking effect in the muscles of these subjects. Another study showed, in a dose-dependent manner, increased blood flow after resVida supplementation among persons with elevated blood pressure. DSM innovated before R became FAD, and endured after FAD morphed into flat. I hope this innovation investment yields substantial dividends and ignites an enduring resveratrol fire.
 
Mr. Almada has no conflicts to declare in relation to resveratrol, resVida, pterostilbene, or DSM. He did receive business class travel in the mid-1990s in relation to interviews for an executive position with DSM, but ultimately declined the position.