Evolva announces interim results of resveratrol study, SupplySide West 2019 report

Photo © iStockphoto.com/Jacob Wackerhausen

Evolva announced the interim results of a two-year clinical trial that evaluated the effects of resveratrol in post-menopausal women. The study, called Resveratrol Supporting Healthy Aging in Women (RESHAW), was conducted by the University of Newcastle in Australia and funded by the country’s National Health and Medical Research Council. The largest and longest-running trial of its kind, RESHAW investigated the impact of Evolva’s branded Veri-te resveratrol on cognitive performance as well as a number of secondary outcomes such as overall quality of life, bone health, and blood glucose.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, 125 post-menopausal women were assigned to either receive 75 mg of resveratrol or placebo twice daily for 12 months, then switched interventions for the next 12 months. Interim results showed that subjects taking resveratrol enhanced cognitive performance in individual cognition tests, improved arterial function in the brain by increasing cerebral circulation, and even increased healthy blood flow, reducing arterial stiffness.

In addition to the positive primary outcomes, subjects taking resveratrol also experienced improvements in bone health, specifically improved bone mineral density measured in the lumbar spine and neck of femur, thus reducing the risk of bone fracture. Improvements in overall health such as muscle strength, determined by hand grip strength, and healthy blood glucose levels were also found. Subjects taking resveratrol even reported a better quality of life in terms of mood, pain perception, sleep quality, and reduced menopausal symptoms.

Post-menopausal women were the subject of the study because despite living longer, many women’s quality of life only gets worse with age because of their susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease and low bone mineral density, resulting in a higher risk or fracture, and chronic pain. However, considering the population was healthy, this would likely translate beyond post-menopausal women. Men face a similar dilemma as they age.

Another study awaiting publication investigated the effects of Veri-te resveratrol on cognitive function, systemic inflammation, and the gut microbiota. Conducted by The Brain Performance and Nutrition Research Centre at Northumbria University in the United Kingdom, the researchers randomly assigned 110 overweight adults between the ages of 35 and 60 to receive 250 mg of resveratrol or placebo twice daily for 12 weeks. Investigating the effects of resveratrol in the gut microbiome in addition to cognitive health and inflammation will help researchers draw connections/conclusions to the ingredient’s influence on the gut/brain axis.