OPC's are bioflavonoids, and are very powerful antioxidants. Bioflavonoids are parts of plants that are actually assimilated into our body tissues when we consume them. It was, in fact, this very ability that led to their discovery. OPC bioflavonoids were first noticed in the laboratory because they have the uncanny ability to strengthen blood vessel walls within hours after taking them. The person responsible for their discovery was a French scientist named Dr. Jacques Masquelier, who first tested bioflavonoid containing peanuts on lab animals and discovered that their blood vessel walls would double in strength only hours after eating them. His discovery was made in 1948. In 1951, this same doctor extracted OPC's from pine bark, and patented the name, "pycnogenol" for this extract.

In 1970, Dr, Masquelier obtained yet another patent for these grapeseed bioflavonoids - a far more potent product, a powerful medicine indeed. If you are intrigued by what OPC's are able to do to blood vessels and connective tissues, you will be amazed at what they were discovered to accomplish in 1986.

WHAT OPC's CAN DO FOR YOU:
Keep connective tissue soft
Anti-inflammatory
Anti-arthritic
Anti-histaminic
Anti-allergic
Anti-ulcer
Prevent cancer
Prevent degenerative diseases
Anti-cavity and gum disease
Halt cataract progression
Prevent skin from aging
Protect lungs
Can slow or halt the progress of MS
OXIDATION THEORY OF CHRONIC ILLNESS

Looking at that list, you may be sceptical, but OPC's have one underlying ability that was discovered by Dr. Masquelier in 1986, and that is the ability of Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins to scavenge free radicals from the body. Free radicals are simply oxygen atoms that are robbed of an electron through the body's natural metabolic processes.

If you exercise or smoke, you are exposed to higher levels of these free radicals than most people. Ironically, people who exercise are exposed to more free radicals than those who don't because they have faster, more vigorous metabolisms. Smokers, and second-hand smokers are bombarded by free radicals, because free radicals are also the product of pollutants (inefficient combustion).

The oxygen atom, which in a stable state has four pairs of electrons, becomes unstable when it loses an electron. An oxygen atom with seven electrons is referred to as a free radical. This name aptly describes its action in the body, too. Just as water pools, and vacuums are filled quickly in nature, free radicals quickly attach themselves to something - in this case body tissues - in order to stabilize themselves. What happens is the free radical takes an electron from the membrane of a body tissue and by doing so, produces yet another free radical, which then is obliged by its charge to seek out another electron - in your body. What results is a cascade of oxidations - literally rusting body tissues. This is such a pernicious and ubiquitous phenomenon in the body, that free radical oxidation has recently been proposed as the major source of chronic degenerative disease.

ENTER OPC's

Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins, in fact anti-oxidants in general, are structured in such a way that they are able to donate electrons freely without altering their valence (their electrons are not paired) - what this means is that anti-oxidants can stabilize free radicals without themselves becoming dangerous. In fact, anti-oxidants will go about donating electrons until they have no more; one anti-oxidant molecule is able to neutralize many free radicals.

It is by the number of available electrons in a given anti-oxidant that we are able to rate their effectiveness. If anti-oxidant A has twice the number of available electrons as anti-oxidant B, then A is said to be twice as potent as B. To put OPC's in perspective among other anti-oxidants, they are 20 times as potent as Vitamin C, and 50 times as potent as Vitamin E (20 and 50 are nice round numbers, but remember OPC's are a class of bioflavonoids, and these are approximations).

As if to cement the necessity of including OPC's in our diets, The Lancet recently released in a widely popularized study that lack of Vitamin E was a more consistent predictor of heart disease than high cholesterol levels! The Lancet, one of the world's top medical journals published their study (randomized, double-blind) in their March 23, 1996 issue, results that indicated low levels of Vitamin E to be predictive of heart attacks 62% of the time, while high cholesterol was predictive only 29% of the time. It is believed that this is due to Vitamin E's anti-oxidant properties. Grapeseed extract not only scavanges free radicals on its own, but grapeseed OPC's donate electrons to Vitamins C and E so these major players in the antioxidant orchestra can go on doing their job longer. Current research reported in December, 1998 by Dr. Lester Packer, Professor, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, U. of CA., Berkeley, describes the "Antioxidant Network", where the central players appear to be vitamins C and E, which are regenerated by thiol antioxidants(sulfur-containing molecules such as glutathione and alpha-lipoic acid., )or by bioflavonoids containing OPC's. Dr. Packer not only believes that supplementation is called for, but states,
"Overwhelming data has now accumulated to indicate that antioxidants, acting in concert, can optimize health even beyond what has yet been achieved. This represents perhaps the next stage in our understanding of nutrition, where we go beyond merely trying to prevent deficiencies and move toward optimizing the levels of antioxidants so that we may experience optimal health and healthy aging." Grape Seed OPC's have the ability to strengthen blood vessel walls, scavenge free radicals directly and by regenerating vitamins C and E, and contribute to over-all good health in many other ways.

Grape Seed Extract, 100mg, 240 caps.
Each Grape Seed Extract capsule supplies 95% biologically-active flavonoids called "Proanthocyandins"(OPCs). Take one or more capsules daily. Compare, many grapeseed supplements have only 25 - 30 mg. No added preservatives, colorings, sweeteners, flavorings.

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