Antioxidant supplements are beneficial for your health in a number of ways. They can neutralize free radicals throughout the body, preventing damage caused by them at the cellular level while reducing oxidative stress levels throughout the body. These benefits can help prevent diseases like cancer or diabetes, thereby promoting longevity. They also assist the body in its normal repair and restoration processes, such as detoxification.
There are many options for antioxidant supplements, which can make choosing the right supplement for you a bit overwhelming. That’s why today, we’re going to take a deeper look at two of our favorite antioxidants - Pterostilbene and Resveratrol.
Pterostilbene & Resveratrol Similarities
As antioxidants, Pterostilbene and Resveratrol work to neutralize free radicals that can lead to cellular damage. Free radicals occur as a result of your body’s natural processes, but you want to keep them to a minimum to avoid premature aging, dementia, cancer, and other “age-related” conditions. That said, some of these pesky substances are actually needed to provide certain signals for metabolism. It is really excessive amounts of oxidants that become a problem.
Both Resveratrol and Pterostilbene can help reduce chronic inflammation, balance cholesterol levels, and improve overall heart health. They are known to be powerful antioxidants. These supplements can reduce low-grade chronic inflammation by combating oxidative stress and inhibiting COX-2 enzymes. (COX-2 enzymes are responsible for converting arachidonic acid into damaging pro-inflammatory molecules).
Pterostilbene & Resveratrol Differences
Pterostilbene also helps regulate metabolism. It can help increase insulin sensitivity, and decrease blood glucose levels. Pterostilbene helps with the metabolic process of turning glucose to energy. This can complement a weight-loss routine when paired with a healthy diet and exercise. There is no magic bullet for weight-loss. A healthy is always needed.
Resveratrol, on the other hand, increases AMPK activation. AMPK activation has been shown to reduce the effects of aging on the body’s cells, while acting as a cellular energy sensor that helps restore energy homeostasis. Resveratrol also stimulates Sirtuin protein activity. Sirtuins are a group of proteins that regulate metabolism, stress responses, and benefit the aging processes. Sirtuins are heavily active in DNA mutation repair.
As you can see, both these antioxidants are highly beneficial in similar, but also unique ways throughout the body. It’s important to note that Resveratrol has been studied longer than Pterostilbene in regards to human health, and yet, despite its many benefits, Resveratrol doesn’t have the same bioavailability as Pterostilbene.
While both Pterostilbene and Resveratrol fall within a class of compounds referred to as stilbenes, they are slightly different structurally. The primary difference between the two is that Pterostilbene is more lipophilic. This allows it to pass through cell membranes easier, making it more efficient in this regard. Regardless of Resveratrol’s lower bioavailability, it’s still highly beneficial as an antioxidant and offers extensive benefits.
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