If you're an avid reader of this newsletter or a vitamin enthusiast, you probably know that resveratrol appears to be a very powerful nutrient. I recall first reading about it in scientific publications from the 1980s. At that time, researchers were just starting to isolate and study resveratrol. In more recent years, it has become more widely known and readily available.

What makes resveratrol so special? It does something no other nutrient that I'm aware of does. There are a group of enzymes in the body called sirtuins. The best known and well studied of these is SIRT 1. It seems that when SIRT 1 is activated in the body, it produces several very positive metabolic activities, such as helping to maintain healthy glucose and insulin levels. It also appears to have a very positive effect on the cardiovascular system, immune function and weight management. Activation of SIRT 1 has even been shown to help extend the life span of various organisms. And what activates SIRT 1? You guessed it, resveratrol.

The journal Endocrinology will publish a study¹ in its December issue regarding resveratrol's positive effects on blood sugar. Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who authored the study, examined a group of overweight mice found to have numerous inflamed organs. Dr. Roberto Coppari, the study's senior researcher, indicated, "But when we delivered resveratrol in the brain, it alleviated inflammation in the brain." By the end of the five week study, the mice given resveratrol experienced a drop in insulin levels about halfway to normal, whereas animals not given resveratrol did not experience lower levels. Researchers also found that resveratrol activated sirtuin proteins in the brain.

You can get resveratrol by eating peanuts, red grapes or drinking red wine. However, the concentration of this nutrient in food is rather small. For example, the typical bottle of red wine contains only a few milligrams of resveratrol. A much more efficient way to get beneficial amounts of this nutrient is through daily supplementation. For those of you of who have looked, there are certainly a lot of resveratrol products out on the market. My preferences are the resveratrol products by NSI® (Nutraceutical Sciences Institute®).

NSI offers many different resveratrol products, not only those that stand alone, but also those combined with grapeseed and red wine extracts, green tea, vitamin C and grape complex. The form of resveratrol that I personally take and recommend to family and friends is NSI Longevatrol Stabilized Polyphenol Complex. Each 200 mg softgel delivers 100 mg of resveratrol standardized to 50% along with an additional 100 mg of standardized red wine extract. It is rich in red wine polyphenols which may greatly benefit health by boosting antioxidant activity within the body.

A new NSI product that I also highly recommend is NSI Trans-Resveratrol, an advanced form of resveratrol that is easily absorbed and utilized by the body. It comes in two beneficial strengths, one delivers 500 mg of trans-resveratrol per single, vegetarian capsule serving, and a second delivers 500 mg of herbal extract yielding 250 mg of resveratrol per single, vegetarian capsule serving.

Compare the quality of these products to others on the market and you will see the others come up short (especially in regard to standardization). And don't forget that many of our Synergy Multi-Nutrient products also contain resveratrol.

Coppari R, Ramadori G, Gautron L, et al., Central Administration of Resveratrol Improves Diet-Induced Diabetes, Endocrinology, Published online October 9, 2009.

To review all NSI Synergy visit: http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Synergy/