35 replies to this topic

[amark]

Ok this should raise some eyebrows.

First of all i have been taking two very large caps of an extract of Japanese knotweed root a day since 2006.I am in very good shape for a 60 year old man. I am assuming that it is likely 50% resveratrol. (If any of you know where I might get this analyzed i would be grateful. So lets go for a gram a day. Now of course i might be getting whatever else in the mix for better or worse. I started with this because when i first became interested in resveratrol it was very expensive and I found this product.

I can tell when i take it and when I do not. Comparably run down a little on a day where i do not ingest it. Anecdotal of course. Still I seem to have the physical effect of being able to easily exercise like those mice that they gave resveratrol to in 2006 (France, Lois Pasteur Institute. NY Times Article). A recent auto accident has made things a lot less comfortable but that is something else.

Last year I started adding 10 mg peperine to each dose of resveratrol. I could tell their was a difference, the really crazy part is that to a very noticeable but incomplete extent I grew hair on the top of my bald pate. I very quickly grew hair above the area where our ears are and have some hair that connects the two areas and goes forward but much less than the original burst of growth ( and thick) that occurred. I suspect there is a continued growth of new hair although at what I perceive as a greatly reduced rate.

I also ( cross my fingers) basically do not get sick. So far when I get a cold or flu like symptoms I knock it back in a day. It is weired since the wife expects me not to get ill.

So make of it what you will. I had my doctor run the full blood screen work up and nothing was abnormal.

[cudBwrong]

Ok this should raise some eyebrows.

First of all i have been taking two very large caps of an extract of Japanese knotweed root a day since 2006.I am in very good shape for a 60 year old man. I am assuming that it is likely 50% resveratrol. (If any of you know where I might get this analyzed i would be grateful. So lets go for a gram a day. Now of course i might be getting whatever else in the mix for better or worse. I started with this because when i first became interested in resveratrol it was very expensive and I found this product.

I'm a little bit older, and I'm also taking a gram a day. I was taking a product which did not advertise its purity level, so I presume it was about 50% pure. I had one issue which has caused me to switch to a high purity brand.

On a recent colonoscopy, my doctor was surprised to find extensive melanosis coli. This condition, a black colon, is thought to be harmless in itself. It is usually caused by extensive use of a stimulant laxative such as senna or senokot, which I do not take. However, emodin, an anthroquinone which is similar or identical to the active ingredient in senna, is also found in Japanese knotweed. So it is likely that I have been consuming a significant dose of emodin.

The condition was not present on a prior colonoscopy, performed before I was taking resveratrol.

Now emodin is not a bad thing, but extensive use of stimulant laxatives can lead to problems, even serious conditions if the usage is high enough. Search on "laxative abuse" for more information. So I've decided to switch suppliers, especially because I want to know what I am taking.

Knotweed must be a relative of the sennas, a genus that contains many species. In fact, resveratrol was first isolated from one of the sennas.

I believe an analysis of your current product would be expensive. You are better off switching to a supplier who provides a Certificate of Analysis (COA) from an independent lab. I believe that megaresveratrol and revgenetics are two vendors who do. See some of the other topics on this forum for additional vendor advice.

[amark]

OK I recently had a colonoscopy and nothing was mentioned about my colon having any abnormalities at all. Previously I had a polyp which was removed and found to be benign. I take magnesium every morning and if I did not take it I would be a lot more constipated so I think it is fair to say that I am not experiencing any laxative effects.

I see no point in switching from something that seems to be working.

Thanks for the reply.

[niner]

I see no point in switching from something that seems to be working.

I'd argue that it's good to know what you're taking, and the easiest/cheapest way to do that is to switch (if only for a while) to a product with an accurate content description. It may well be the case that the effects you like from this stuff are due not to resveratrol, but to the other compounds in it.

[cudBwrong]

OK I recently had a colonoscopy and nothing was mentioned about my colon having any abnormalities at all. Previously I had a polyp which was removed and found to be benign. I take magnesium every morning and if I did not take it I would be a lot more constipated so I think it is fair to say that I am not experiencing any laxative effects.

I see no point in switching from something that seems to be working.

Thanks for the reply.

The only reason I suggested changing suppliers was your question about getting an analysis of your current product. It seems you are interested to know what all of the components are, and I think that is a good idea.

Because a chemical analysis is expensive, I suggested that you buy a product that already comes with an independent analysis. In this way, you get the chemistry work for free, so to speak, although that cost is part of the price of the product. The advantage to you is that you share that cost with many other buyers. I'm not suggesting that you change which supplements you take. I'm only pointing out that if you buy the resveratrol from someone else, that would be the most cost effective way to learn the exact composition of the product you are taking.

I am slightly concerned about one other point you mentioned in your reply. You say "I take magnesium every morning and if I did not take it I would be a lot more constipated." This concerns me a little bit because if you are getting a stimulant laxative too often, the symptom can be not diarrhea, as you might think, but constipation! This is what happened to me.

What happens with the chronic use of a stimulant laxative is that it becomes ineffective, and you need more and more to get the same result. In more extreme cases, the colon stops doing its job properly and does not expel all the waste material.

If a knotweed extract is not completely purified, one of the substances most likely to be "left over" is the stimulant laxative emodin. This might cause some loose stools at first, but if you are taking it for a long time, it is more likely to cause what my doctor calls a "lazy colon" that is not completely efficient.

For what it's worth, I never had constipation in my life until some time after I began resveratrol use. My doctor put me on a daily dose of MiraLax (polyethylene glycol). This is an osmotic laxative. Unlike a stimulant laxative, it can be taken safely every day.

The MiraLax mostly solved my problem, but I have been much more regular since I switched to a purified resveratrol. Now the constipation and occasional bowel pain are completely gone.

Thanks for sharing your story with us.

[amark]

Your suggestions are all reasonable. That said I see no advantage in taking them. I find the magnesium citrate useful but I honestly do not take it every day because it is such a horse pill. Taking pure resveratrol would only allow me to establish a baseline then i would have to judge on a personal basis which would not establish much. What i do know is that what I am doing seems to be working. Without getting the substance analyzed I really cannot say what its ingredients are. so until I find a way to get this analyzed or get in touch with the company which might be challenging i will continue doing what I am doing.

I am a lot more worried about driving than taking this stuff. I was hit while stopped at a light. i was in a Miata and the 18 year old who was probably texting or similar was driving an older Dodge Intrepid. Be careful out there folks there are some less than qualified drivers out there.