A stilbene closely related to resveratrol, with two methoxy groups in place of hydroxyls, found naturally in blueberries and Indian kino tree heartwood. Commercial material is synthetic.
Pterostilbene exists commercially because of a bioavailability argument: the methoxy groups resist the conjugation that destroys most of an oral resveratrol dose, giving a longer half-life and higher plasma levels in animal studies. Whether that solves anything is unclear, because the outcome evidence is thinner than resveratrol's, not richer. The one substantial human trial is worth knowing about for the opposite reason to the usual: at 250 mg twice daily it raised LDL cholesterol compared with placebo. That is a finding people selling it for cardiovascular health rarely mention.
Sold as
Capsule, Tablet, Combination products with nicotinamide riboside
Standardised to
Milligrams of trans-pterostilbene, typically synthetic and above 99% purity — a product without this marker may not resemble what was studied.
Regulation: Sold as a dietary supplement in the US without pre-market efficacy review. Frequently packaged with NAD precursors in longevity-marketed products where neither ingredient has outcome evidence.
What the research used
The amounts, forms and durations published trials of Pterostilbene actually administered.
These are the amounts published trials administered — not a recommendation, and not a dose to copy. Trial participants were screened, supervised and given a characterised preparation. What is in a retail bottle is frequently not what was studied, and the amount that suits one person is not general advice.
Studied for Blood pressure and lipid trial
50–250 mg
Limited
Capsule, twice daily · 6–8 weeks
The single substantial human trial used 50 mg and 250 mg twice daily. Blood pressure fell modestly at the higher dose in people not on cholesterol medication, and LDL cholesterol rose.
This is general information about food, not medical advice. It cannot diagnose, treat or replace guidance from a clinician who knows your history.
When it was taken
Each window says whether a trial compared it against an alternative, or whether it is convention and pharmacology. Most timing advice is the second kind.
None of the timings below were directly compared in a trial. They reflect how the research happened to dose, or what the pharmacology implies — which is not the same as a timing being better.
🕐Any time
Not enough
No timing comparison exists. Products are usually taken once or twice daily on the basis of the half-life measured in animals rather than any human comparison.
Timing was not directly compared. This reflects convention or how the compound behaves in the body, not a trial showing this window works better.
The evidence in depth
Best supported: Limited
What each association actually rests on, and the papers behind it. A rating describes the state of the research, not how promising the supplement sounds. How we rate evidence.
The same trial found LDL cholesterol increased on pterostilbene relative to placebo. That is the opposite of the marketed direction and it is the best human lipid data available for this compound.
Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.
One randomised trial reported a modest reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure at 250 mg twice daily in participants not taking a statin. It is a single study with a modest sample and has not been replicated.
Limited evidence. Early human work, or mostly lab and animal research.
Cognitive claims come from rodent work. There is not enough human research to say whether pterostilbene affects memory or cognition.
Not enough evidence. Not enough human research to say anything useful yet.
No source is attached to this association yet, so it is rated not enough evidenceby default. It is listed because people commonly ask about it — not because there is evidence for it.
Things to know
Interactions, contraindications and dose limits, most serious first. Concentrated extracts interact with medication in ways the whole plant does not, so this section carries more weight here than it does on a food page.
Worth knowing
Raised LDL cholesterol in the main human trial
The only substantial randomised trial found an increase in LDL cholesterol at the higher dose. Anyone taking pterostilbene for cardiovascular reasons should know that this is what the human data show, and should have lipids checked rather than assume benefit.
Interaction
Likely shares resveratrol's enzyme interactions
Interacts withCYP3A4 and CYP2C9 substrates
Stilbenes inhibit cytochrome P450 enzymes in laboratory work, so interaction with medicines metabolised by CYP3A4 and CYP2C9 is plausible. Human interaction studies have not been done, which is a gap rather than a clean bill of health.
Worth knowing
Very little long-term human exposure data
Published human use runs to weeks in a few hundred people. Claims about years of use in a longevity context are extrapolation from mice.
Avoid
Not studied in pregnancy or hormone-sensitive conditions
As with other stilbenes, oestrogen-receptor activity has been described in laboratory systems and there is no human safety data in pregnancy, breastfeeding or hormone-sensitive cancer.
In the food catalogue
The whole-food form, where one exists. The evidence for a concentrated extract rarely transfers to the food, or the other way round — these are cross-links, not equivalents.