Title: Support Your Physical and Mental Well-Being With One of Nature’s Premiere Gifts for Protection Against Oxidative Stress Source:
[None] URL Source:https://products.mercolamarket.com/pine-bark-extract/ Published:Apr 18, 2022 Author:Dr. Joseph Mercola Post Date:2022-04-18 08:21:19 by BTP Holdings Keywords:None Views:45
Support Your Physical and Mental Well-Being With One of Nature’s Premiere Gifts for Protection Against Oxidative Stress
Aging is inevitable, but with the right support from nature, you can help maintain optimal physical and mental fitness throughout your years. This ‘high-performance phytonutrient’ can help you Take Control of Your Health® from head to toe.*
> Pine bark extract is an outstanding source of oligomeric proanthocyanidins, or OPCs, which help protect your cells, tissues and organs against oxidative stress from damaging free radicals.* > Organic Pine Bark Extract with OPCs is harvested from the fresh bark of young, living Pinus sylvestris trees in approved Certified Organic designated areas within the wild forests of the Finnish Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle – an area known for its ecological sustainability practices. > Organic Pine Bark Extract with OPCs is extracted using water only and is standardized to contain 60% procyanidins, one of the primary antioxidant constituents in pine bark extract.
The year was 1535. French explorer Jacques Cartier and his crew were exploring Canadian waters when, unexpectedly, the rivers froze, trapping them in the remote provinces for five months.
With few fresh supplies aboard, the crew soon became sick and many died. Turning to the locals for help, the crew learned how to make a tea from the needles and bark of the native pine trees.
This nourishing tea made a significant impact with its vitamin C content, and what would be isolated and discovered later, bioflavonoids with powerful antioxidant activity.
Fast forward more than 400 years... French researcher Jack Masquelier, in his under-equipped university lab, would be the first to successfully isolate this naturally occurring, remarkable substance, found in peanut skins, grape seeds and pine bark.
Professor Masquelier discovered oligomeric proanthocyanidins, or simply OPCs.
What are OPCs? They are a group of closely related antioxidant compounds that plants – such as the pine tree – depend on for protection against external threats, including UV radiation and predators.
Masquelier’s discovery of OPCs turned out to be revolutionary for science. Studies would show how this nutrient is just as active and protective in the human body as it is to plants.
In fact, the knowledge he provided transformed scientists’ understanding of health, and the process of living and dying.
What Makes OPCs Potentially Valuable for Health?
As part of your activities of living free radicals form in your body. Stress, UV radiation, aging, illness, environmental toxins, poor diet, excess exercise and lack of sleep can all take their toll by creating free radicals that can damage your cells.
On the cellular level, the energy-producing mitochondria in your cells also create free radicals as a type of waste product – usually highly reactive oxygen compounds capable of causing much damage to your cells.
Your body uses special molecules, known as antioxidants, to help neutralize these highly reactive compounds. If you have too few antioxidants in your body to neutralize all the free radicals, your body experiences excessive oxidative stress.
As you age, all of those daily stresses build up and reduce your supply of natural antioxidants. That can potentially lead to even greater damage on the cellular level, including your mitochondria, proteins, cell membranes and genetic material in the cells.
That’s why it’s so important to make sure you get enough antioxidants on a daily basis. Like other antioxidants from plants, OPCs can help protect your cells.*
10 Ways OPCs Work to Help Safeguard Your Health* OPCs work to help neutralize oxidative stress throughout your body, potentially benefitting your:
1. Cardiovascular system by promoting healthy circulation, already normal blood pressure and healthy veins and arteries.* 2. Metabolism by promoting optimal endothelial function and healthy glucose levels already in the normal range.* 3. Immune system by supporting healthy T- and B-cell immune function, which can decline naturally with aging.* 4. Respiratory health by supporting a healthy, normal inflammatory response in the airways and promoting normal airway flow.* 5. Cognitive function, mood and mental performance through its effects on oxidative stress.* 6. Joints by promoting comfortable movement and a healthy, normal inflammatory response.* 7. Connective tissue by promoting the synthesis of collagen for healthy tissues, and hyaluronic acid, a polysaccharide found in nearly every cell in your body, for healthy connective tissue and immune support.* 8. Eyes and vision by supporting the healthy structure and function of the microscopic blood vessels in the retina and other structures of the eye.* 9. Muscles by improving muscle recovery time, reducing muscle soreness and promoting athletic performance and endurance.* 10. Lipid profiles by supporting the actions of antioxidant enzymes to help protect your body’s supply of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) against oxidation.*
In addition to helping to protect your cells, tissues and organs against oxidative stress from damaging free radicals, OPCs also help protect and renew your body’s supplies of vitamins C and E.*
Support Your Healthy Heart With OPCs*
OPCs have been shown to play a major role in supporting heart and vascular health.*
Earning the Nobel Prize in 1998 for their work, a team of researchers described how the endothelial cells lining the walls of your blood vessels play a crucial role in regulating blood flow and blood pressure levels in the normal range.*
Your endothelial cells produce a gas called nitric oxide (NO) that helps:
> Your blood vessels stay relaxed and open for blood flow.* > Promote healthy blood vessel flexibility and dilation.* > Support healthy blood pressure levels already in the normal range.*
As a part of normal aging, your body’s ability to produce nitric oxide declines. And that means you may need extra support to help maintain optimal blood flow.* The OPCs in pine bark extract can help support healthy blood vessel dilation and help support endothelial function by maintaining nitric oxide levels that are within the normal range.*
Research findings suggest that, in addition to its effects on healthy blood pressure and endothelial function, OPCs may also help protect low- density lipoprotein (LDL) particles from oxidative stress – another plus for supporting your cardiovascular health.*
Now that we know what OPCs offer for health, let’s take a look at what I believe is one of the best sources of this gift from nature.