How important are nutrients like resveratrol in managing eye pressure?

Ellen Troyer and others had a nice conversation about resveratrol in the FitEyes.com mailing list. (I can post the whole conversation below if requested.) 

I enjoyed reading this conversation. There are lots of good points here. However, for me, the single most important statement was the one below by Ellen.

Since resveratrol is only one of the nutrients found in grapes and wine, it makes biological sense that it would be the most effective when presented with a balanced amount of other polyphenols molecules. 

That message has been driven home by the beta-carotene trials with a force that I would characterize as "shock and awe" to borrow a miiltary term. The fact that the very supplement that had been billed as reducing cancer risk actually increased it (at least under certain circumstances) was indeed shocking, even to the researchers. The same message has been delivered with equally sobering results from vitamin-E studies (increased mortality). In fact, if we are paying attention, an almost identical, although not as dire, message comes from studying the effects of supplementing with isolated minerals or even megadoses of certain B-vitamins.

I'm replying here in my blog rather than to the mailing list because I'm taking the conversation in a different direction. I want to frame it in light of what I have learned about managing my eye pressure. I'm going to use this as an opportunity to teach what I have learned from self-tonometry (as well as from Ayurveda and other sources).

My own rule, which I'm sure is not Ellen's position, is that many supplements should be thought of exactly the same as drugs. I certainly do not think the FDA should regulate vitamin supplements, but I think we, as consumers, should dispel ourselves of the notion that they are natural and completely safe. There is nothing fundamentally different about taking a supplement like resveratrol (or any other isolated supplement) and taking a pharmaceutical drug. The difference is only a matter of degree. I know of certain things that have been sold in health food stores that absolutely deserves to be called a pharmaceutical drug. There are a few extreme examples. But there are also common examples. In fact, any of the isolated amino acids come to mind in this regard.

I believe food is our best (orally consumed) medicine and I believe the best supplements are traditional super foods. Things like concentrated greens, cod liver oil (if you can get it free of pollutants), red beet powder, alfalfa juice, etc. deserve much more attention than the newest thing out of the nutrient-manufacturing laboratories. 

Learning to use food as a medicine and to fine tune my intake of foods and spices according to my state of health, the weather, the season, and the balance of my body on that day has paid dividends far, far beyond what I used to get from a cabinet full of vitamins and other nutrients.

And learning that my emotions and thoughts have the power of medicine has really elevated my ability to manage my eye pressure. Emotional habits and thought habits can easily undo (or enhance) the effects of anything we consume whether food, super food or vitamin supplement.

To bring this conversation home, I have no doubt that most of us with glaucoma should be putting as much energy, attention, money, time and care into mastering our feelings and our inner state (mind/emotions) as we can. If we are spending our time studying isolated supplements and we don't yet have the ability to manage our intraocular pressure, we're probably spending our time unwisely.

I want to put all my energy into the things that bring the best results. The only reason we tend to focus on other things is because they are easier. But this is no different from organizing one's todo-list by which items are easiest to do. We know the more effective way to organize a todo-list is by priority. People who always work only on the easy things never achieve important results. In learning to manage IOP -- the only treatable risk factor for glaucoma progression -- there is nothing more effective than learning about our thought habits, emotional habits and lifestyle habits and how those impact our IOP. Studying isolated supplements is a complete waste of time in this regard. They have no effect on IOP in comparison to the factors I just mentioned.