POWERFUL ANTIOXIDANTS Free radicals are incredibly destructive. They damage our cells, which can mean premature aging, reduced immune function, inflammation and ultimately degenerative disease. Our primary defense is antioxidant nutrients, of which the most well known are Vitamins C and E. The biological activity of antioxidants is enormously important to our health. OPC's are very powerful antioxidant free radical scavengers. They are as much as 50 times more potent than Vitamin E and 20 times more than Vitamin C. OPC's are major protectors of collagen, the basic foundation our blood vessels and all connective tissues such as skin, ligaments around joints and tendons. Suggested Use: Usually 1 mg of OPC's per pound of body weight per day. Children and adults under 100 lbs. usually take 100 mg per day. Many individuals take more the first week and at special times of need. OPC's are completely safe and no known toxicities exist. Many people take double this amount very successfully. TERMINOLOGY* OPC extract contains individual units called catechins. When catechins occur individually, they are called monomers. When linked together in pairs, they are called "dimers" and when in three's, "trimers." In 1947, Professor Dr. Jack Masquelier, working at the University of Bordeaux, isolated the first proanthocyanidins or OPC's ever identified. Masquelier named the mixture "pycnogenols" from the Greek "pycno" meaning to "thicken or condense," "gen" meaning "to generate" and "ol" from their chemical name. The dimers and trimers are referred to as oligomeric proanthocyanidins. "Oligo" is from the Greek meaning "a few". "Pro" means "before" or "produces" and "anthoCyanins" are the red compounds that the proanthcyanidins change into when fruit ripens, flowers mature or leaves turn. "Oligomeric ProanthoCyanidins" is abbreviated "OPC." They are found in most plants, are highly bioavailable and are active in the body as tremendous antioxidants and free radical scavengers. OPC's are chemically classified as flavonols and are present in red wines, flowers, leaves, fruits, berries, nuts, sorghum, beans and hops with high concentrations in skins, barks and seeds. The most feasible commercial source is the seeds of grapes and the bark of the French Maritime Pine. Pycnogenol(OPCs) is not one chemical, but a complex of at least forty different substances extracted from the bark. All of these substances are water-soluble flavonoids that occur naturally in plants. The advantage of Pycnogenol is that is has a wide and important variety of many different micronutrients in one supplement. Pycnogenol is well absorbed and readily bioavailable, considered nontoxic, and is well tolerated. The name 'Pycnogenol' was intended as a scientific name for this class of bioflavonoids... "According to Dr. Morton Walker, 'Pycnogenol has been found to neutralize free radical pathology, which in large measure is responsible for such human difficulties as dysfunctional capillaries, bruises, malignancies, allergies, heart disease, peripheral vascular diseases, arthritis, varicose veins, diabetes, cancer, cataracts, scleroderma, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and other forms of human tissue degenerations.' "...all the research suggests that we need a broad spectrum of antioxidants from a wide variety of food sources and that they tend to work synergistically in helping one another out." SOURCE: James F. Balch, M.D., "The Super Antioxidants - Why They Will Change The Face of Healthcare in the 21st Century" M. Evans and Company, Inc. (1998). "Since OPC is an antioxidant, research shows it fights cholesterol by discouraging deposits from forming on artery walls. OPC's anti-inflammatory activity may help relieve inflammatory conditions, including arthritis, allergies, bronchitis, and asthma. OPC also corrects dangerous blood clotting tendencies that trigger heart attacks and strokes. Dr. Ronald Watson, a researcher at the University of Arizona, recently confirmed that OPC (Pycnogenol) normalizes platelet aggregation -- blood stickiness leading to hazardous blood clots. He showed that when people smoked, their platelets clumped together in a tendency to form clots. But about twenty minutes after taking OPC, their platelets returned to normal. "A surprising use of OPC has arisen among people suffering from that bewildering disorder in concentration and attention known as attention deficit disorder (ADD), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is said to have begun quite accidentally when people with ADD took OPC for another purpose, such as allergies, and noticed an improvement in concentration and mental focus, classic symptoms of attention deficit. Others started using it. Word spread, and the ADD remedy has achieved high visibility on the Internet and at natural products trade shows. "The use of OPC for this purpose has not been widely studied but a preliminary study by Marion Sigurdson, Ph.D., a psychologist in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who specializes in treating attention deficit disorder, has found striking benefits from OPC. Using a blend of pine bark and grape seed (Dr. Masquelier's OPC-85 product), Dr. Sigurdson found that it worked just as well as the commonly prescribed stimulant medications, including Ritalin, on thirty children and adults diagnosed with ADD. The subjects were given a battery of computerized and behavior tests to judge their attention, concentration, and other important factors in ADD under various circumstances: when they were either on or off their usual stimulant medications, or on the OPC alone. When they were off their medications, their ADD deteriorated. On their medications, they were much improved. But when they took daily doses of the OPC grape seed-pine bark mixture, their scores and behavior were just as improved as when they took stimulant drugs. In other words, the OPC equaled the drugs in most subjects... (Many of the subjects also had other positive effects: decreased heart beat, disappearance of tennis elbow, relief of acne, improved sleep and mood.) "Scientifically, how could this possibly be true? How could mundane grape seed and pine bark chemicals have a profound influence on the brain comparable to that of a powerful pharmaceutical drug? According to Marcia Zimmerman, a California consultant who specializes in research on OPCs, there is some underpinning in the scientific literature, suggesting possible mechanisms of action. A fascinating way OPCs might affect brain cells, as shown by studies in cell cultures, she says, is by regulating enzymes that help control two crucial neurotransmitters -- dopamine and norepinephrine, chemicals that carry messages among brain cells and are involved in 'excitatory' responses. OPCs also help deliver nutrients to the brain, such as zinc, manganese, selenium, and copper, that are helpful in ADHD, according to recent research. Additionally, OPCs' remarkable antioxidant activity may help stabilize brain cells and improve their functioning by neutralizing damage from free radicals." SOURCE: Jean Carper, "Miracle Cures : Dramatic New Scientific Discoveries Revealing the Healing Powers of Herbs, Vitamins, and Other Natural Remedies"; HarperCollins Publishers (1998).