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Grapeseed
Extract - Powerful Antioxidant
(some information taken from http://www.health-pages.com/op/
)
What
Is OPC Grape Seed Extract and How Does It Work?
OPC's (Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins), PCO's (Oligomeric
Procyanidolic Complexes), leuco anthocyanin, anthocyanidin
and still more names all refer to the same set of bioflavonoid
complexes that perform as free radical scavengers in the
human body. We will refer to them as OPC's for the duration
of this discussion. OPC's are types of bioflavonoids, very
powerful ones. 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!
What
OPC's Can Do For You:
- Keep connective tissue soft
- Anti-inflammatory
- Anti-arthritic
- Anti-histaminic
- Anti-allergic
- Anti-ulcer
- Help 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 sole 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 bioflavinoids, 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 our assertion that this is due
to Vitamin E's anti-oxidant properties. We invite you to
recall OPC's ability to strengthen blood vessel walls and
draw your own conclusions (why not take both?).
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