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Pycnogenol
(grape seed
extract)
You probably won't find pine
bark and grape seeds in the produce section of your local grocery but maybe
you should. These plant products pack a potent punch against aging and
disease. They can boost circulation, knock out free radicals, protect you
from heart disease, and give you younger-looking skin. Part of a family of
semi-essential nutrients called bioflavonoids, pine bark and grape seed
extract belong to a small group originally known as pycnogenols and now
called proanthocyanidins or procyanidolic oligomers - PCO for short.
Researchers began studying PCO in the 1950s after a trip back in time tipped
them off to its value.
In December 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier and his crew traveled up
the St. Lawrence River in Canada and
became trapped by ice. With only salted meat and biscuits to eat, they soon
began to experience symptoms of scurvy - a
severe vitamin C deficiency. Nearly a quarter of the men died and more than
half were seriously affected by this debilitating
illness before a Quebec Indian told them about a tea made from tree bark.
The debilitated crew rapidly recovered after drinking the tea and using
poultices made from it. Why? The bark contained vita
min C plus PCO, which helps the nutrient work faster and better. Some 400
years later, a French researcher, Jacques
Masquelier, read Cartier's account and started studying pine bark. He
discovered that the maritime pine, or Bordeaux pine, in southern France was
a rich source of this substance. In 1951, Masquelier patented a method of
extracting PCO from pine bark.
What's in a name? The term Pycnogenol is now a registered trademark of a
Swiss company that sells PCO supplements. It specifically refers to pine
bark extract from maritime pine from Quebec and southern coastal France. But
you can find PCO in lemon tree bark, peanuts, cranberries, and citrus peels,
and in smaller amounts in foods like apples, onions, tea, and blueberries,
as well as in grape seeds.
In fact, PCO from grape seeds, or grape seed extract, is cheaper and even
more potent than that from pine bark. Plus, most research on PCO has been
done on grape seed extract.
Regardless of the source, PCO may prove a mighty ally in battling conditions
common to aging including hardening of the arteries, stroke, heart disease,
varicose veins, and diabetic circulation problems. As a bonus, PCO may keep
you looking younger because it acts as an antioxidant to protect your skin
from the sun and other environmental assaults. And it helps rebuild your
skin, too.
Antioxidant armor. PCO helps two other antioxidant nutrients,
vitamins C and E, block free radicals. And, as you know, free radicals may
be the culprits in some 60 diseases that doctors can't pin on germs,
including heart disease, cataracts, arthritis, allergies, diabetes, liver
disease, and perhaps even cancer.
By helping your body better use vitamin C, PCO protects this essential
vitamin and, indirectly, aids vitamin E also. PCO stops free radicals from
shutting down vitamin C and even converts injured vitamin C back to normal.
In turn, vitamin C renews vitamin E that's surrendered to free radicals and
protects vitamin E from further harm.
PCO acts on its own, as well, to disarm free radicals. In laboratory
experiments, Japanese researchers found the nutrient was 20 times more
powerful than vitamin E and 50 times more powerful than vitamin C at
trapping free radicals. In fact, some researchers believe the PCO found in
grapes should get credit for the way wine seems to protect you from heart
disease.
Circulation superstar. Acting as an antioxidant isn't PCO's
only role in health. Europeans have been using it for more than two decades
to promote healthy blood vessels and treat circulation disorders. Here's
why:
First, PCO strengthens collagen, the basic building block of our skin,
tendons, ligaments, and cartilage, as well as a major part of the
"intercellular cement" that fills the space between every cell in our body.
Strong collagen is especially important for blood vessels - and critical in
the tiniest of blood vessels called capillaries.
Capillaries carry oxygen and nutrients to the cells and take away waste.
Without them, cells would starve or drown in their own waste. Only one cell
thick, capillaries are reinforced with collagen and depend on it to keep
them strong enough to do their work.
PCO not only supports vitamin C, needed to make collagen, but it also sticks
to collagen, making it even stronger. Think of it as steel reinforcement for
your circulatory system. This is important because if a capillary develops a
hole it's a prime target for a free radical attack. And leaky capillaries
also mean cells don't get the nourishment they need to be healthy.
By strengthening weak blood
vessels, PCO helps prevent bruising and improves circulation in the legs to
prevent swelling, pain, and varicose veins.
Reinforcing artery walls also helps prevent injuries to the walls that may
cause hardening of the arteries. Once arteries are damaged they tend to
collect fat and cholesterol deposits, which narrow the passage, making it
more difficult for blood to get through.
Plus, PCO also seems to stop blood from getting sticky and clotting -
another way it can help you ward off heart attack or stroke. Finally, the
blood-vessel-building power of PCO can help prevent the type of stroke
caused when arteries burst or leak.
Protects vision, especially for diabetics. For a lot of
people, when they get older, the capillaries supplying blood to the eyes
weaken and rupture. That's one of the main reasons you lose your eyesight as
you age. People with diabetes are very likely to have this problem. It's
called diabetic retinopathy.
Since PCO strengthens the capillaries, it can decrease this bleeding
considerably.
Even people with normal eyesight apparently benefit from PCO. Night vision
and after-glare vision improved considerably in a group of healthy
volunteers who took PCO.
Younger-looking skin. As you age, your skin becomes thinner.
The layer under the surface loses fat, causing the outer layer to sag. The
skin fibers, once elastic, lose the ability to bounce back. In short, you
get wrinkles.
Skin counts on collagen for strength, elasticity, and smoothness. The older
you get, the more free radicals have battered the collagen in your skin. To
make things worse, you somehow let your natural defenses slip against two
enzymes that damage collagen even further. To the rescue: PCO, which not
only halts free radical damage but binds to the collagen to prevent
deterioration by enzymes. Plus, it can even return collagen fibers to their
youthful, undamaged state. It's like a cosmetic you put in instead of on.
This free-radical fighter can also protect your skin from further damage
from the ultra-violet radiation of the sun. One laboratory study in Finland
showed that 35 percent more skin cells survived sunlight exposure when
protected by PCO.
Europeans can already buy "anti-aging" creams containing PCO. Look for a
burst of PCO skin care products over here once the American cosmetics
industry discovers the benefits of this bioflavonoid. Many companies are
already touting products with antioxidants, but PCO's chemical structure
makes it penetrate your skin more easily. This may make PCO products more
effective than those containing vitamins C and E.
Keeps swelling down. PCO may be helpful in inflammatory
diseases such as arthritis, lupus, colitis, and hepatitis, but no one knows
this for sure because researchers haven't studied PCO's effect on these
illnesses.
Many people believe it helps reduce swelling caused by allergies -
especially hay fever. PCO cuts down on the amount of histamine you make.
That's the stuff responsible for your swelling nasal passages and watery
eyes. In Finland, PCO is a very popular allergy remedy.
Combine the power to stop swelling with the power to repair connective
tissue and you come up with a mighty good way to prevent inflammation and
swelling from a soft-tissue injury like a sprained ankle or knee. That's why
some sports doctors recommend athletes take PCO regularly. |
