Pygnogenol - Super food for super human

Pycnogenol is a natural extract from the bark of a tree namely, french maritime pine tree.

It is categorised under a group of class called Flavonoid. There are many members under flavonoid, but pycnogenol that coming from the tree bark has been going through study, clinical trials over 80 cases and researches have been carried out since 40 years ago. It has been proven to be beneficial to human health. The research is still on going to discover more human health benefits and ensure it is safe for consumption.

It has become more and more vital in our daily diet as the health benefits that it provides are as important as vitamins and minerals that we take everyday. Many of the modern diseases that our society is fighting against with and many have even cost their lives are essentially can be prevented or improved by adding pycnogenol in our daily diet.

So what are the health benefits that the pycnogenol is promoting to us?

• it promotes healthy immune function such as less prone to get sick/cold

• it increases immune response to viral infection

• it prevents / improves diabetes and metabolic syndromes

• it controls blood sugar level, cholesterol level, blood pressure level

  • it slows down the rate of sugar absorbtion in the intestine, slower rate of sugar absorption promotes lower sugar level. And because of a longer period of time needed for body to absorb the sugar, it promotes a more stabilized or even sugar curve and it thus prevents diabetes due to high blood sugar level, and also put your appetite under control and eventually prevent overeating which might lead to obesity.

• it improves or prevents cardiovascular disease, stroke and high blood pressure in a safe and effective manner

  • improvement in blood flow and blood pressure - pycnogenol stimulates production of nitric oxide (i hope i get Dr Jeff's term correct). This helps to dilate the blood vessels which in turn improves the blood flow and thus lower blood pressure, eventually improves the overall cardiovascular circulatory health.
  • a healthy cardiovascular system will help to lower the risk of stroke and heart attack.
    pycnogenol re-balances the cholesterol by bringing down the LDL cholesterol and bringing up the HDL cholesterol. It promotes overall cardiovascular health
  • preventing oxidation of cholesterol. Our heart wall is made of lipids, and lipids is a form of cholesterol. If the oxidation of lipids wall happened, it will cause heart diseases. Since pycnogenol is an antioxidant, it will neutralize the free radicals before reaching lipids.

• It improves Kidney functions (part of the metabolic syndrome)

  • Due to the high blood pressure, sugar level and cholesterol, this will lead to poor function of kidney. If the blood sugar level, cholesterol and blood pressure level are under control, study has shown that the kidney function can be improved as there is less albumin detected in the urine.

• It prevents Retinopathy (part of metabolic syndrome), damage to the eyes blood vessel

  • The damage to the eye can be prevented by controlling the metabolic syndromes.

• It is an antioxidant source that slowdown aging effect and prevent cancer cells from developing

• It prevents or improves Arthritis

  • Pycnogenol has the ability to prevent disease due to inflammatory. Arthritis is an inflammatory response of a damaged cartilage and thus causing painful experience. Pycnogenol helps to moderate and decrease the inflammation and at the same time decrease the pain. If the pain remains, the joint cannot rebuild the damaged cartilage effectively and the condition may get worse. With pycnogenol, it helps decrease the inflammation, and sets a stage for cartilage to repair itself and the patients have the opportunity to restore their mobility.

• It improves cognitive function

  • Children with ADHD, a study with children taking pycnogenol for one month shows that they are more mentally stable and controlled and are able to concentrate and sit still in the classroom.
  • Elderly individuals with diabetes are very susceptible to cognitive function decline or dementia. A study show that patients taking pycnogenol over 6 months will have a slight rate of cognitive decline than the ones who do not. And those who do not have pycnogenol intake show 5 times faster rate of decline in cognitive function. pycnogenol improves memory function significantly.
  • For healthy elderly who intake pycnogenol over 3 months shows a better cognitive function and less prone to dementia.

In summary, pycnogenol improves cardiovascular health, promotes proper cognitive function by improving blood circulation into the brain and protecting the brain from stress. It also promotes healthy inflammatory response and healthy immune response.

When it comes to choosing a proper flavonoid supplements, be sure to choose the proven supplements through clinical trials and in-depth researched flavonoid, such as pycnogenol.

Excerpt from the audio by Dr. Jeff Strong - Director of Scientific Communications, Horphag Research (Asia).

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