What ARE OPC’s And What Can They Do For Me?

Last Updated on Saturday, 10 July 2010 08:44 Written by Administrator Tuesday, 30 March 2010 20:08

What ARE OPC’s And What Can They Do For Me?

OPC’s are some of the most powerful bioflavonoids known to research scientists at this time. Oligomeric proanthocyanidins, commonly abbreviated OPC’s are known to give an unprecedented amount of health benefits from one little supplement!

OPC’s antioxidant abilities surpass those of Vitamin E and Vitamin C -- providing more free radical protection for your buck! (Antioxidants interact with and stabilize free radicals and may prevent some of the damage free radicals might otherwise cause).

The best-researched OPCs are prepared from grape seed, red wine, bilberries, Pycnogenol from pine bark and citrus fruit. The pine bark is an especially potent source for these vital nutrients. Acknowledged areas of benefit from OPC supplementation include:

General:

• Demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity

• Helps to maintain joint flexibility

• Helps support visual health/visual acuity

• Scavenges free radicals

• Promotes healthy nitric oxide levels

In Promotion/Support of cardiovascular health and healthy circulation:

• Bioflavonoids found in OPC’s play a key role in cardiovascular health and maintaining vascular integrity.

• Strengthening of the capillaries, arteries and veins

• Promotion of healthy blood vessel dilation

• Supports healthy platelet activity

• Supports healthy blood glucose levels

• Support and maintenance of more optimum cholesterol levels

• Can help to reduce mild menstrual cramping (not applicable to all causes)

Some wonderful effects from supporting your body with OPC's include:

• A healthier complexion as normal collagen renewal is promoted. Collagen renewal supports firmness of the skin, joint cartilage and connective tissue.

• Additional support for healthy sperm quality.

What is the benefit to supplementing with OPC’s regularly?

Many effects of OPC’s do have an immediate effect with a single serving.

Still, studies with human volunteers have found that some of the health benefits of OPCs may take a while to occur. Especially for health concerns resulting from everyday wear and tear, it can take time for your body to repair itself. It took you a while to get this way after all. Daily supplementation allows the body to sustain a consistent antioxidant defense in addition to repair.

Should I have any safety concerns?

OPCs are among the most valuable constituents of a healthy human diet. OPCs have been researched and used safely for over 30 years throughout Europe.

There is one concern in our over medicated modern world:

Since OPC’s do aid and affect blood flow and how red blood cells clump, people using blood thinners should check with their doctors before using larger amounts of any supplement with PCs.

We at naturalvitaminhealth.com encourage our visitors to look into more natural ‘fuel for living’ products in preference to ‘life by medicating’ but we do advise common sense coordination with your medical professional during the switch over.

Why should I take OPC’s even when I am healthy?

Everybody experiences free radical damage and oxidative stress in today’s world. Free radicals are byproducts of the physiological processes that occur within our bodies. Although it can take years to show up, it can and does add up over time.

We now consider this process a major component to the aging. Free radicals have been linked directly to premature aging, poor circulation, poor heart health and poor immune health.

Most anti-aging regimes now start with the idea that aging in NOT a natural phenomena, but the result of inflammation, illness and/or poor maintenance.

OPC’s are the most powerful natural free radical neutralizers. Regular use every day is vital for keeping free radicals in check for a long, healthy life. Studies show OPC’s as more powerful antioxidants than vitamin C and vitamin E.

Special Issues Addressed by OPC’s for athletes and exercisers:

Athletes are usually exposed to higher levels of oxidative stress. Free radicals develop as byproducts during metabolism when calories are processed with oxygen. Athletes inhale 10 to 20 times more oxygen during physical activity over rest periods.

This increase in activity creates additional free radicals. As a matter of fact, free radicals are known to limit athletic performance, since free radicals apparently take a toll on muscle tissue.

Studies on recreational athletes show a 20 percent endurance increase while using OPC’s, compared to a control group using a placebo. Another study shows us that the athletes using OPC’s felt significantly less muscle cramping during and after performing.

Am I likely to see any OUTSIDE effects form OPC's supplementation?

We get it that most of us use anti aging therapies and products to LOOK younger not just feel younger.

And studies indicate that the particular benefits of OPCs supplementation can have a noticeable effect on the collagen production. As OPCs support collagen production in the skin, an increase of smoothness and support of elasticity is the natural result. Such an effect was objectively measured in women aged 40 years and older. Skin smoothness showed an increase after three months when measured by 3-dimensional topography.

It requires patience to show visible effects for this as well as ANY supplementation regime. It is essential to continuously take OPCs to keep any vital effects.

On a short-term basis, many people notice a fresher-looking skin complexion. This is a result of healthy blood microcirculation, which helps detoxify the skin and improves the nutrient supply. Regular use of OPC's can help fight off photo-aging of the skin.

What other anti aging effects can I hope to achieve adding OPC's to my daily supplementation?

Your body's mechanisms to keep free radicals in check, decline with increasing age — when you need them the most. And some cells of our body are more vulnerable to free radicals than others.

OPC's have the ability to go in and do the heavy lifting--cleaning and scavenging the free radicals that feast on cellular energy and take it away from vital processes. Your energy is the vital fuel for living life instead of just enduring it.

Since damage caused by free radicals is cumulative (it adds up over time), this allows OPC’s to do double duty—helping your body prevent as well as releasing the internal effects of aging.

What are the cardiovascular health benefits of OPC's?

Scientist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of vitamin C, was the discoverer of OPC's. He discovered that OPC's work the same way. He maintained that they strengthen the walls of arteries, veins and capillaries.

In the following 20 years scientists discovered that OPC’s have even more benefits for the cardiovascular system.

Epidemiological studies show regular use of powerful OPC antioxidants support and help maintain a healthy cardiovascular system. OPC’s appear to be especially helpful in maintaining healthy cholesterol levels and healthy arteries. Pycnogenol specifically plays a major role, since it promotes healthy nitric oxide (NO) levels.

What are and Why should I care about Nitric Oxide levels?

NO is a tiny molecule that acts as a key messenger molecule in our blood stream. It aids relaxation of smooth muscle-surrounding arteries. It also helps normal artery diameter and blood flow.  In two clinical studies, Pycnogenol was shown to encourage healthy NO levels that help maintain normal blood pressure. NO also promotes healthy blood platelet activity and so preserves a more normal, fluid environment.

I noticed above that OPC's might help support eye health…how does that happen?

Loss of vision is one of the scarier of disabilities possible with aging. There are OPC’s that have been specifically tested for effects on eyes health. One that was successful is Pycnogenol. It was shown to support healthy capillaries in the eye.  OPC's from this source are recommendable for supporting visual health and acuity.

Did you mention it might affect cramps for women?

As in any discussion of cramps, there has to be a warning here that due to the many differing causes of cramps theses results will definitely vary. This comes more under the “It’s worth a try” category than the almost a sure thing.

Some OPCs were shown in clinical trials to help women who suffer from mild pain and cramping during the menstrual period. When these women were supplemented with OPC’s (starting at least a week before the menstrual period) pain levels significantly reduced.

What is the pine bark mentioned -- Pycnogenol?

Pycnogenol is the registered trademark of Horphag Research (UK) Ltd. for the standardized extract of bark from the French maritime pine tree. Pycnogenol is particularly valuable due to the extensive clinical research performed on it (more than 120 studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals).

The flavonoids in Pycnogenol act as powerful antioxidants and appear to promote the normal generation of nitric oxide (NO). This is important as NO plays a key role in regulating heart health.

Nitric oxide promotes the normal relaxation of arteries, supports normal diameter of blood vessels and helps maintain healthy blood pressure and circulation. NO assists normal platelet activity. This activity lets the blood maintain a normal, fluid viscosity. Pycnogenol has been awarded various patents for its ability to support healthy platelet activity.

What is the best way to take OPC's?

The owners of Naturalvitaminhealth.com recommend Market America’s OPC-3 for its reputation for quality in ingredients and processing standards and especially for the Isotonix delivery system (OPC-3 active ingredients get delivered in the highest concentration to the small intestine, where most absorption of nutrients occurs).

That said, we also feel that OPC’s from any source and delivery system are better fuel than no OPC's at all.

A Pocket history of OPC’s

(Thank you Market America for providing this mini history)

In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier led an expedition up the St. Lawrence River. Trapped by bad weather, Cartier and his crew were forced to survive on a ration of salted meat and biscuits. Cartier's crew began to suffer from severe deficiency of vitamin C and showed symptoms of scurvy. Many crew members died before the surviving members encountered a friendly Native American who saved most of their lives. He told them to make a tea from the bark and needles of the pine tree to cure their malady. They complied and, as a result, Cartier and many crew members survived.

Some 400 years later, Professor Jacques Masquelier of the University of Bordeaux, France, read a book by Cartier detailing their expedition. He concluded that pine bark not only contained some vitamin C, but obviously was a good source of bioflavonoids, whose effects are similar to those of vitamin C. Further studies and research revealed that the pine bark contained an array of proanthocyanidins complexes. These compounds were also found in a variety of plants, including grape seeds, cranberries, peanut skin, lemon tree bark and citrus rinds. Masquelier termed the active ingredients of the pine bark "pycnogenols", which today are referred to in the scientific community as oligomeric proanthocyanidins, or OPC’s.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product(s) is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.