If you live in the Western world, and don’t live in a cave, an igloo, a dark valley or a hut by the river, you’ve almost certainly heard of resveratrol.
This natural antioxidant is found heavily in red wine, and is known for protecting the heart and enhancing cognitive abilities like memory and focus. However, resveratrol is also interesting for acne. Firstly, resveratrol is a potent antioxidant itself, defending your skin against free radicals and even sunlight. Resveratrol also stimulates your body to make more of its own antioxidants, chiefly superoxide dismutase.
Secondly, resveratrol is known to decrease inflammation effectively, by down-regulating the inflammatory molecule 5-lipoxygenase, which is also controlled by painkillers. The result? Less red and inflamed acne, and a glowing skin tone.
Additionally, resveratrol can improve your gut bacteria, wiping out a harmful microorganism called clostridium with an indirect ability to create pimples. Resveratrol is definitely a mainstream supplement, but a highly promising one.
If you’re interested in these benefits, read on, and you’ll discover the nine greatest resveratrol supplements.
Resveratrol is also interesting as a topical treatment, being able to weaken the cell membrane of acne bacteria, but today’s focus is oral resveratrol. For a quick shortcut, Garden Of Life and Vitamonk are the very best products here.
Let’s get started:
One – Vitamonk
The additives list is harmless, reading vegetable cellulose, white rice flour and rice extract. The trans-resveratrol dosage is a strong 300mg, sourced from 600mg of Japanese knotweed standardised to 50% trans-resveratrol, the best absorbed form.
Vitamonk also has a rare bonus feature among resveratrol brands, a 60mg helping of pterostilbene per capasule. This natural compound is a phytoalexin, a highly powerful antioxidant which is actually structurally related to resveratrol. Pterostilbene is found naturally in blueberries, and believed to be partially responsible for its antioxidant, brain protecting properties. This bonus doesn’t dilute the trans-resveratrol either.
Vitamonk is free from common additives like magnesium stearate, corn and soy. You receive 60 capsules per bottle for a 2 month supply and there’s even a 100% money-back guarantee.
Vitamonk is a very difficult resveratrol brand to beat, for acne, brain health and longevity.
Amazon link: Resveratrol with Pterostilbene by VitaMonk.
Two – Garden Of Life
Firstly, Garden Of Life isn’t riddled with the additives of cheaper supplements: the only extra ingredients are the vegetable cellulose capsule and organic rice hull. Secondly, Garden Of Life contains a large 2 month supply, with 60 capsules per bottle.
Garden Of Life is also a powerful supplement, containing 350mg of the active trans-resveratrol form, and here we reach a point you can never ignore. If you’re hunting for resveratrol, always check the trans-resveratrol content!
There’s two common forms of resveratrol in nature, which are trans-resveratrol and cis-resveratrol. A full resveratrol supplement, like cheaper brands on the market, often contains approximately 50% of each.
The problem? Trans-resveratrol is responsible for all the health benefits detected in studies, the cognitive benefits, the heart healthy powers, and the antioxidant activity. Cis-resveratrol achieves next to nothing. Extracts of simply “resveratrol” are effective because they contain 50% trans-resveratrol, but never get misled by the label. Sometimes, they can also be standardised extracts of a natural resveratrol source.
Garden Of Life succeeds because it contains 578mg of natural resveratrol, sourced from Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes and fermented Japanese knotweed, which overall contains a high trans-resveratrol dosage of 350mg. This difference is the most important point for you to remember when looking for resveratrol. Garden Of Life also combines this high power level with numerous nutritional bonuses, like a digestive and probiotic blend, and a blend of fruits and vegetables like broccoli and blueberries.
Garden Of Life is easily among the best resveratrols for sale today.
Amazon link: Garden Of Life Resveratrol Supplement.
Three – aSquared Nutrition
ASquared Nutrition contains a 180 day supply, if you take one capsule daily, and has a 30 day money-back guarantee. ASquared Nutrition is more expensive than other products, but the supply is also greater. The choice is yours.
Interestingly, aSquared Nutrition also sells a second resveratrol product, with a bonus red wine extract. The dosage is 500mg collectively, but the resveratrol content is likely slightly lower due to the additional ingredients. However, the red wine extract will contain some resveratrol itself, and other benefits: red wine is rich in polyphenol antioxidants. It’s made from the red grape skin, the most nutritionally dense part. It’s in another 180 capsule bottle, though there’s a slight downside of additional additives like magnesium stearate. I’d recommend the pure resveratrol version first and foremost.
ASquared Nutrition is among the greatest resveratrols you could use.
Amazon link: aSquared Nutrition Natural Resveratrol.
Four – Vitacost
Vitacost has a strong dosage, containing 500mg of Japanese knotweed per capsule, standardised to contain 250mg of the all-important trans-resveratrol. The ingredients list is very pure, being only chlorophyll and the natural plant cellulose capsule. Vitacost is free from common additives like magnesium stearate, corn and soy.
Another advantage of Vitacost is its freedom from a big minefield surrounding resveratrol supplements – hidden bonus ingredients. You can witness this phenomenon with aSquared Nutrition’s red wine version and Vitamonk, but those brands are excellent, since they still have high levels of trans-resveratrol. Occasionally, a sub-par resveratrol blend will boast of a 1200mg serving, but end up containing 100mg of trans-resveratrol or less per capsule.
This occurs in three ways. Firstly, the recommended serving is often two capsules, making one weaker. Secondly, the resveratrol is usually in full resveratrol form, AKA, just 50% trans-resveratrol. Finally, a bonus blend of plants like grapeseed extract can make up hundreds of milligrams.
Always check the ingredients label thoroughly. Elsewhere, Vitacost contains 60 capsules, for a 2 month supply.
Vitacost is ideal for a pure resveratrol supplement, free from any bonus nutrition.
Amazon link: Vitacost Trans-Resveratrol.
Five – Divine Bounty
There’s bonus ingredients everywhere. Green tea appears in numerous resveratrol products, but for men, it isn’t as healthy as believed, since it slashes levels of the hormone DHT which men need for health and vitality.
So why is Divine Bounty even featured on this list? Because Divine Bounty is perfect in every other way, and for women, green tea is a very beneficial ingredient.
Lowering androgens will give women less oily skin without any of the crippling side effects, unless you take it way too far. Furthermore, the acai berries and red wine extract are both extremely high in antioxidants.
Divine Bounty succeeds with its additive list too, which simply reads methylcellulose capsule. The trans-resveratrol dosage is higher than other blended products, at 150mg per capsule, though weaker than many resveratrol focussed brands.
For women, Divine Bounty is a highly promising blended resveratrol product.
Amazon link: Divine Bounty Resveratrol.
Six – Zhou Nutrition
Each capsule contains 500mg of Japanese knotweed extract, standardised to 50% trans-resveratrol and thus 250mg, equalling Vitacost as a high dosage. Every single brand listed here contains at least 75mg of trans-resveratrol per capsule (not serving). The optimal level of effectiveness is 100mg to 500mg daily, but one brain health study gave a single resveratrol dosage of just 75mg to adult humans, and still detected increased cerebral blood flow.
The additives list in Zhou Nutrition is short: rice flour, vegetable cellulose, and silica. Magnesium stearate, corn and soy are all absent. The resveratrol comes in capsules rather than tablets, averagely sized and easy to swallow capsules.
Each bottle contains 60 capsules, giving you a two month supply. That’s easily sufficient for testing, since the study above detected cerebral blood flow increases after a single dosage. A couple of weeks should allow the improved concentration and memory to materialise. Since resveratrol helps your skin by lowering inflammation and acting as an antioxidant, two weeks is a good timeframe for acne as well.
Zhou Nutrition meets every requirement for a pure and potent resveratrol.
Amazon link: Zhou Nutrition Resveratrol.
Seven – Gaia Herbs
What is Japanese knotweed? It’s a leafy plant which is native to Eastern China, Japan and Korea. Japanese knotweed, or Polygonum cuspidatum, is the primary source of natural resveratrol supplements, found in every brand listed here.
It’s more economical to extract resveratrol from this plant compared to red wine or dark chocolate, and what’s more, Japanese knotweed contains more resveratrol than them anyway. The plant itself is also rich in other antioxidants. Therefore, not only will the Japanese knotweed provide extra resveratrol, it may also deliver more mysterious bonus health benefits.
Gaia Herbs succeeds with its additives too, which are merely vegetable glycerin, water and the hypromellose cellulose. Each bottle contains 50 capsules for a low price. The dosage of 75mg is easily the weakest here, but Gaia Herbs earns a place on the list because of its trustworthiness.
Amazon link: Gaia Herbs Resveratrol.
Eight – Mega Resveratrol
Like Zhou Nutrition, the sole ingredient is resveratrol as Japanese knotweed extract. The key difference is the standardisation; this brand contains a massive 99% trans-resveratrol, for a per capsule dosage of 495mg of trans-resveratrol, beating the standard 50% easily.
Furthermore, an independent laboratory confirmed this, with their assessment actually detecting 99.8% trans-resveratrol. According to Mega Resveratrol, their product is “micronized for optimal absorption and bio-availability“. The capsule count is also quite high at 120, while the additives list simply reads cellulose vegetarian capsules. There are no bonus features, but the resveratrol is second to none.
Does the superior quality justify the higher price? It’s up to you. What cannot be doubted is that every resveratrol brand here will succeed.
Mega Resveratrol is the ultimate resveratrol for people with money trees in their back gardens.
Amazon link: Mega Resveratrol, Pharmaceutical Grade.
Nine – NutraChamps
The same rules therefore apply; because of the green tea, this is a product which only women should take.
NutraChamps is high quality in most aspects, however, with the only additive being the hypromellose capsule. At 300mg, the trans-resveratrol dosage is actually above average. The bottle contains 120 easy to swallow capsules, making NutraChamps excellent value for money.
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The key difference to Divine Bounty is the presence of vitamin C. The amount is small, but a nice bonus; vitamin C acts as an antioxidant, suppresses stress hormones, and increases collagen formation in the skin. Vitamin C is a water soluble antioxidant, like resveratrol, so they’ll enhance each other’s powers. The dosages of acai berry, green tea and grapeseed extract are also lower than NutraChamps, making them a slight bonus rather than a fully fledged combination.
Both NutraChamps and Divine Bounty are interesting resveratrol formulations, which could have unexpected effects on your skin. However, for resveratrol, NutraChamps is superior.
Amazon link: NutraChamps Resveratrol Supplement.
Conclusion
Be warned that resveratrol is among the most popular natural health supplements sold today. Normal people are hearing about its heart healthy, brain enhancing benefits and going wild, so the market is a true minefield. Luckily, this guide is your handy shortcut.
For some reason, almost all of the many different blended resveratrols available contain green tea. It’s become an industry standard, but is out of bounds for any man concerned about his hormonal health. The blended products you can use are aSquared Nutrition and Vitamonk, with their red wine and pterostilbene.
Mega Resveratrol is easily the best product here, but for the affordable brands, Vitamonk and Garden Of Life are my favourites. The dosage is the highest at 300mg, and the bonus ingredient, pterostilbene, looks very promising in studies while lacking the proven anti-androgenic effects of green tea. For women, NutraChamps also matches Vitamonk.
NEXT: forget creams and moisturisers – discover the ultimate acne-clearing diet
Thanks for reading!