Proanthocyanidins

Dr. Harper Values Proanthocyanidins .....

Tell us about your first experience with proanthocyanidins.

Three years ago I attended a nutritional conference in San Francisco where they were introduced as a therapy for increasing  tendon strength. 

About a year ago I started using proanthocyanidins from pine bark for patients’ treatment and found that my patients were responding well.

When do you usually suggest the use of proanthocyanidins to your patients?

Every single time. I think everyone should be using antioxidants, not just proanthocyanidins, but all the rest of the antioxidants as well. Most foods are deficient in antioxidants; instead, they are loaded with oxidizing materials because of the processing, pesticides, and herbicides to which they’re exposed.

What impresses you most about proanthocyanidins?

The fact that they work.

I frequently hear about supplements that supposedly work, and when I’ve tried them with my patients they haven’t worked. I’ve seen some very good results with my patients who use proanthocyanidins.

I’ve never found anything that works perfectly for everyone, but they  work for a significant number of my patients.

What ways have you seen them benefit generally healthy people?

An increase in energy and a clearer mind. The greatest benefit is that proanthocyanidins help strengthen the body against future attacks by oxidizing materials. I believe they will delay aging.

What are some of the conditions you have recommended proanthocyanidins for?

Peripheral vascular disease, angina, blood pressure, headaches, multiple sclerosis, and others. I would like to have all my patients use proanthocyanidins.

How would you summarize your experience with proanthocyanidins?

Proanthocyanidins are one of the most important discoveries of this decade because of the wide ranging effects they have on the renewal of vitamin C, synergistic effects with other antioxidants, and overall efficacy I have seen in patients.

I am entirely confident about recommending any of the proanthocyanidins to my patients. They are an important part of any therapy designed to restore health or prevent aging.

Free Radicals cause damage to your health

What are free radicals? Where do free radicals come from? Can free radicals damage the body? How can free radicals be controlled?

The human body is comprised of millions of molecules. Molecules are the basic building block of the elements in life, such as amino acids, glucose, fatty acids, etc.

Orbiting each molecule are electrons that help hold the molecule together. Electrons are usually associated in pairs. When there is an odd number of electrons in orbit, the molecules tend to become unstable and reactive. A molecule in this state is referred to as a free radical.

Free radicals are found in every facet of life. They are formed in the environment and are produced internally by the body. Air pollution, tobacco smoke, excessive radiation, various chemical reactions, toxic waste, pesticides, and herbicides are only some of the environmental sources of free radicals.

Our bodies also produce free radicals. The process of breathing produces free radicals in a reaction process that produces the energy necessary for living cells to survive.

The immune system also produces free radicals. When bacteria invade our bodies, the immune system produces free radicals to help break down and overcome the infection. It is vital to control the amount of free radicals present to protect healthy tissue from damage.

Free radicals can be damaging to the body because of the chain reactions  they produce. When a free radical comes in contact with a stable molecule, it robs an electron from that molecule. The process continues, passing from one molecule to the next until it is either contained or cellular damage results because of that change.

When a free radical regains the electron that it lost, the cell does not regain its original form and function; it remains damaged. The process is like an injury. A burn may eventually heal, but the effected area will contain scar tissue that never lets the body be restored to its original condition.

The human body is usually capable of controlling the free radicals produced internally. Free radicals are dangerous because they are present in massive quantities externally.

In an open forum on Pycnogenol, Dr. Lamar Rosquist described what free-radicals can do to things outside the body. “ They (free radicals) cause steel to rust, paint to oxidize, and rubber to turn hard. They cause hoses to crack. They wear out your windshield wiper blades. They cause wood shingles to turn from honey- colored to gray in one year. They cause cement to become porous; they wreak havoc with everything outside the body. Now do you think you can breathe pollution 16 to 20 times a minute, 60 minutes per hour, 24 hours a day, and have no damage from those free radicals inside your body? Not on your life!”

Dr. Robert J Willix, Jr. reported that free radicals contribute to three main health problems: cancer, heart trouble, and arthritis. Controlling the amount of free radicals in the body can ameliorate 60 adverse health conditions. Dr. Willix’s answer to the problem is antioxidants. Pycnogenol is an antioxidant which can counteract the dangerous effects free radicals have on the body.

Proanthocyanidins are worth the wait

The best things in life are worth waiting for, right? Case in point: U.S. Patent no. 4,698,360 which took approximately 450 years to evolve.

The patent is a method of safely extracting proanthocyandin from natural sources such as strawberries, apples, peanut skins, cranberries, grape seed, and pine bark, and converting it into safe, concentrated dosages. Oligomeric Proanthocyanidin (OPC) is an antioxidant which has been proven to enhance the body’s natural healing processes, specifically by strengthening arteries, veins; improving skin elasticity; counteracting inflammation; lessening the effects of stress; and improving visual acuity.

Although OPCs have been used in their natural forms for centuries, it has taken considerable time to learn how to harvest them so that our bodies can use them more efficiently.

The Indians in Quebec were familiar enough with the healing nutrients found in plants and trees to heal French explorer Jacques Cartier and his crew from scurvy in the winter of 1535. The Indians served the ill Frenchmen a brew extracted from the needles and bark of Canadian pine trees. Within days the symptoms of scurvy disappeared. Cartier recorded the incident in his book  Voyages au Canada.

Centuries passed and Cartier’s remarkable survival went unappreciated until the 1950’s when French researcher Jacques Masquelier found the book and read about the tea made from pine bark that had saved the lives of Cartier and his crew.

Masquelier later filed the U.S. Patent for  extraction in 1987. He studied different pine species and found that not all pine bark had the highly bioactive substances he identified as OPC. He discovered the French maritime pine, Pinus maritima, to be one of the richest source of OPC.

Along with pine bark, grape seed is also a plentiful source of OPC. Research has found that grape seed naturally contains a level and potency of OPCs comparable to pine bark. For 20 years, Masquelier’s discovery has undergone rigorous pharmaceutical testing. OPCs have been shown to be free of side effects and are noncarcinogenic. A well-known OPC is Pycnogenol, which has helped numerous conditions such as leg cramps, hemorrhoids, swollen joints, poor circulation, and inflammatory conditions.

Although OPCs are a fairly new product in North America, they have been used widely on the market in France, Finland, Holland, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Korea, Argentina, and Switzerland.

Since the Food and Drug Administration does not recognize research done overseas, the arrival of the product in U.S. markets has been slow, yet revolutionary.

It has taken 451 years since Cartier’s men drank the tea that eventually launched Masquelier’s extensive research. Now many researchers, athletes, doctors, and consumers see the incredible results from taking concentrated doses. They and other health-conscious individuals will find the health benefits of OPCs worth the wait.