Pterostilbene is a plant compound closely related to resveratrol, found in blueberries and some trees. It is marketed for healthy aging and is often paired with nicotinamide riboside; the main human trial tested it in adults with high cholesterol.
Also known as: trans-pterostilbene.
Pterostilbene has no intake value or upper limit, and there is no NIH fact sheet for it. The trial below used 50 mg or 125 mg twice a day (100 or 250 mg a day) for 6 to 8 weeks. These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. There is no FDA-approved pterostilbene drug.
In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 80 adults with high cholesterol (Riche 2014), the higher amount (250 mg a day) lowered systolic blood pressure by about 7.8 mmHg and diastolic by about 7.3 mmHg. But pterostilbene alone also raised LDL cholesterol by about 17 mg/dL; this rise was not seen when it was combined with grape extract, and appeared smaller in people already on cholesterol medicine. If you have high cholesterol, check your lipids with your clinician.
The safety analysis of the same trial (Riche 2013) found no harmful effects on liver, kidney or blood sugar markers and no significant reported side effects at up to 250 mg a day over 6 to 8 weeks. Longer-term safety has not been studied.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for pterostilbene that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one.
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