ANTIOXIDANTS protect you from free radical attacks and aging

What would you call an herb that could safely help slow aging, promote heart health, and reduce the risk of  a whole host of diseases - not least among them cancer? A miracle? Well, maybe. But science calls it ANTIOXIDANT. When most people think  of antioxidants, they think of this: a few hundred milligrams of vitamin C  in the morning, a vitamin E supplement  to stave of heart attack.
But vitamin supplements are far from the only sources of antioxidant protection. Plenty of herbs offer it, too. Some herbs, in fact, are as much as 50 times more powerful than the most popular antioxidant vitamins.
Want to know which herbs provide nature's best antioxidant protection? Read on.
The term free radical sounds like it describes an escaped terrorist. In a sense, it does. Freer radicals are highly reactive oxygen molecules that  are formed as by-products of normal metabolic reactions. They act upon the cells and tissues of your body to produce significant damage - terrorizing them, if you will.
Antioxidants come to our rescue by neutralizing these free radical molecules. If they aren't neutralize, free radicals create all sorts of trouble, reacting with proteins, fats, and nucleic acid (DNA)  to cause changes that can lead to heart disease, arthritis, cancer, and various degenerative conditions. Almost all of these conditions are associated with the aging process, so the direct effects of an antioxidants can actually reduce some of the effects of growing old.
Among the most effective antioxidants are a series of compounds known collectively as polyphenolic derivatives. Individually, they have a bewildering number of names that are even more confusing, so scientists  lump them together under the name OPCs.
OPCs are found  in a number of higher plants, ranging from foods such as blueberries to grape seeds, pine bark (PYCNOGENOL), and green tea. Their primary antioxidant  activity is preventing  the oxidation of  low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol in the blood. That makes the LDL less sticky to build up on the artery walls. When your arteries are clear, you're fat less likely to have a heart attack. OPCs also help strengthen tiny blood vessels, thus improving circulation.

What's in it for ME? Healthy food has more benefits than you may realize.

Healthy food has more benefits than you may realize, most of them having to do with cutting back on saturated fat. Here are some of the biggest pay-offs you can expect.
You can eat more. Hallelujah! When you cut back on fat, you can actually eat a greater amount of food. That's because  fatty foods are a denser source of calories than healthier, carbohydrate-rich and protein-rich foods.
You'll save money. Premium meats and processed foods usually cost more than healthy foods like chicken, vegetables, fruits, and grains. When you buy fewer high-fat items, you automatically lower food costs.
You'll lose weight. Want to lose a few pounds? Experts agree that one of the best ways to do it is with better diet. Study after study shows that eating a fewer  calories (which comes naturally from eating less fat) can help you lose weight. Following a LOW GLYCEMIC INDEX lifestyle system can help you lose weight and gain muscle mass as well.
You'll cut heart attack risk. It is clear that eating healthfully can help prevent disease. But it can also  help reverse it. Eating naturally low-fat foods like grains, vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins can actually help reverse the build-up of deposits (plaque) in the blood vessels and reduce your risk of heart attack. That is pretty powerful. If you think you can't make up for a lifetime of overindulgence, think  again. It is never too late.

SELENIUM - the CANCER crusader

Researchers believe that selenium may help the body defeat cancer by inducing a kind of  suicide in malignant cells, according to Dr. Larry Clark, associate professor of epidemiology at the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson. "In tumor cells grown in the laboratory, selenium stimulates  programmed cell death, which is a very late effect in the cancer process. This makes us think that it is never too late to start taking selenium, because it may have effects on actual tumors as well as on premalignant cells," says Dr. Clark.
Selenium help boosts  your immune system and protect cells from the damage caused by free radical molecules.


Selenium also bids with toxic substances such as arsenic, cadmium, and mercury to make them less harmful. Selenium may  play a  pivotal role in determining whatever viruses  in your body live harmlessly  or turn into killer pathogens. Some studies suggest that a selenium deficiency could be the trigger that shifts the AIDS virus into overdrive.


Because pollution and excessive food processing we get from food, some experts have argued that the optimum amount of selenium maybe much higher than the current DV. While the specific impact of selenium deficiency has not been proven, some research has suggested that an insufficient level of the mineral may play a role in the development of heart disease.
Daily Value: 70 micograms
Safer upper limit: 200 micrograms

Women Need Sugar; Men Need Sex

He's stressed; he reaches for you. You're stressed; you reach for the chocolate bar on your nightstand. Why do women tend to soothe stress with food, while men seek release with sex? The answer may lie within a a tiny portion of the brain called the hypothalamus, says neuropsychiatrist Mona Lisa Schulz, M.D., Ph.D.

The hypothalamus is a part of the limbic system, a group of brain structures that govern food, fighting, fear -  and sex. In most women, the part of the hypothalamus that rules sexual desire is extremely close to the part that controls feeding, says Dr. Schulz In most men's brains, these two portions of the hypothalamus are farther apart.

That does not mean that some women don't get lusty when they are under stress or that anxious men don't turn to jelly doughnuts. We all have unique ways of soothing ourselves, says Dr. Schulz. " But there's no question that more women than men eat under stress, and there are neuroanatomical differences in how men and women are programmed for sex - at least, in the hypothalamus.

Stop a STROKE!

A long term study from Harvard University has found evidence that potassium can reduce your chances of devoloping blood clots and having a stroke.  Doctors analyzed data from food questionnaires completed by nearly 44,000 healthy men ages 45 to 75. The study broke the men in two groups, Men in the high-potassium group consumed nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Men with diets that were lower in potassium ate only four servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

During the 8 years of follow -up, the doctors found that men in the first group had 38% lower risk of stroke than men in the low-potassium group. Remarkably, the greatest benefit was seen among men who had a history of high blood pressure and were taking potassium supplements along with diuretics. Their risk was slashed by a whopping 64 percent.

Is Styrofoam Fattening?

    
 If you don't get enough vitamin C, you might catch  a cold. If you don't get enough iron, you might find yourself eating Styrofoam. Iron deficiency has been identified as partially responsible for a bizarre disorder known as pica. The name comes  from the same Latin  root as  a magpie, the name of the bird known for its  indiscriminate appetite. Over the years, doctors have reported cases people with pica eating such as unpalatable items  as dirt, chalk, clay, library paste, laundry starch, paint chips, paper, cardboard.ice chips, and yes Styrofoam.


"Pica is a strange mix of the physical - usually an iron deficiency - influenced by a psychological and even social settings," says Dr. William H. Crosby, a retired hematologist in Joplin, Missouri, who has a long-standing interest in pica. The condition tends to occur in pregnant women, who are often low in iron, and in some babies. The babies affected tend to be "milkaholic," meaning that they drink milk to the exclusion of other foods, thus lowering their intake of iron.


No one knows why iron deficiency would cause such strange behaviour, but often, when the deficiency is corrected with iron supplements, eating habits return to normal, Dr. Crosby says.

PYCNOGENOL Reduces High-Blood Pressure - expert says.

Lead investigator Ronald Watson, PhD, College of Public Health, and School of Medicine, Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona, in Tucson, AZ, conducted an 11 patient double-blind placebo controlled crossover study with Pycnogenol® and Stage 1 hypertensive patients resulting in significant reduction in blood pressure. In the study entitled, A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Prospective, 26 Week Study to Determine the Role of Pycnogenol in Modifying Blood Pressure in Mildly Hypertensive Patients, subjects were given 200 mg of Pycnogenol® French Maritime Pine Bark Extract per day for eight weeks. Pycnogenol® reduced systolic blood pressure to 134 mmHg, and reduced diastolic blood pressure to 94 mmHg in patients participating in the study.

The 11 patients had an average age of 50 years and mild hypertension defined as systolic blood pressure of 140-159 mmHg, and/or diastolic pressure of 90-99 mgHg. People with blood pressure within this range are considered to be Stage 1 Hypertensive and are not routinely treated with pharmaceutical drugs. The study participants refrained from using any medication.

«Hypertension affects nearly 50 million Americans, and is the number one cause of heart attacks and strokes, and 40,000 deaths a year,» says Dr. Watson. «Our research here demonstrates Pycnogenol's ability to elevate the production of nitric oxide in the vessel walls to reduce blood pressure which may help decrease hypertensive morbidity and mortality.

Muscles surrounding blood vessels control their diameter and blood flow and pressure. Stress hormones instruct muscles to constrict and reduce diameter while increasing blood pressure. Nitric oxide, on the other hand, relaxes muscles, expands blood vessels and improves blood flow, thus lowering blood pressure.

PYCNOGENOl May Increase Sperm Count and Keep Sperm from Getting Out of Bent

Pycnogenol May Keep Sperm from Getting Bent Out of Shape
A natural substance obtained from the bark of French maritime pine trees might help shape up men's sperm. That's the finding of a preliminary study recently presented at a medical meeting in San Francisco.
Scott J. Roseff, M.D., and his colleagues at the West Essex Center for Advanced Reproductive Endocrinology in West Orange, N.J., asked four "subfertile" male patients to take daily supplements of Pycnogenol brand French maritime pine bark extract for three months. The men had relatively high numbers of deformed sperm, as well as low sperm counts and activity, all of which could limit their ability to fertilize a woman's egg.

The idea for the research project began with Dr. Roseff and his colleagues recognizing that antioxidants, such as vitamins E and C, can improve sperm and correct some cases of male infertility. Pycnogenol is an herb-like complex of natural antioxidants.

After 90 days of supplementation with Pycnogenol, the percentage of structurally normal sperm -- that is, non-deformed sperm -- increased by an average of 99 percent in the men. Sperm count and activity did not change.

"Basically, the number of deformed sperm went down and the number of normal sperm went up after the men took Pycnogenol supplements," Dr. Roseff said. "The increase in morphologically (structurally) normal sperm is significant, although this is just a preliminary study. Pycnogenol could enable some couples to forgo expensive in-vitro fertilization in favor of simpler and less expensive intrauterine insemination," he said.

Dr. Roseff's findings were presented earlier this month at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine/16th World Congress on Fertility and Sterility, in San Francisco.

Pycnogenol is an extensively studied natural antioxidant that has been found useful in maintaining the health of blood vessel walls and circulation. It works, at least in part, by quenching hazardous molecules known as free radicals. Free radicals have been shown to damage DNA (genetic material) and cells, contributing to aging and diseases.

PYCNOGENOL Helps To Prevent Alzheimer's Disease - Expert Says

Pycnogenol helps to prevent Alzheimer's

A new study by Dr. Benjamin Lau and his colleagues of the Loma Linda University, California, has revealed that an extract of French maritime pine bark, Pycnogenol, assists in preventing damage caused by the key protein involved in development of Alzheimer's disease: amyloid b. Brains of Alzheimer patients typically show deposits of amyloid b, known to generate oxidative stress causing neuronal loss and vascular damage.

Dr. Lau has discovered that Pycnogenol, one of the most powerful natural antioxidants currently known, could help to prevent vascular damage in the brain by amyloid b. Blood vessel cells resisted the toxicity of amyloid b when Pycnogenol was present. This adds further evidence for a role for Pycnogenol to prevent ageing related deterioration of the brain.

Neuronal cells are also protected from amyloid b-induced damage by Pycnogenol. This has been shown by Dr. Dave Schubert of the Salk Institute (La Jolla, California).

The positive influence of Pycnogenol on brain function has been demonstrated by Dr. Lau. He counter acted age-related deterioration of memory retention and learning ability of old mice by supplementing them with Pycnogenol. Older mice regularly fed with Pycnogenol showed markedly improved memory and learning ability in comparison to their littermates without Pycnogenol. Moreover, older mice treated with Pycnogenol® for two months retained memory levels almost equal to those of young mice. Other researchers who carried out related studies with an extract of Gingko biloba had to feed 10 to 20 times as much to mice.

These studies suggest that supplementation with the powerful antioxidant Pycnogenol, exclusively available from Horphag Research, may assist retention of a fully able brain. Regular Pycnogenol supplementation is also an investment for the future, as it may help to prevent the tragedy of Alzheimer's disease.

1. Liu F, Lau BHS, Peng Q, Shah V. Pycnogenol protects vascular endothelial cells from b-amyloid-induced injury. Biol. Pharm. Bull. 23(6): 735-737, 2000.
2. Kiu F, Zhang Y, Lau BHS. Pycnogenol improves learning impairment and memory deficit in senescence-accelerated mice. J. Anti-Aging Medicine 2 (4): 349-355, 1999.
3. Rohdewald P. Pycnogenol. In: Flavonoids in health and disease. Ed. C.A. Rice-Evans and L. Packer. Marcel Dekker, Inc. 405-419, 1998.
4. Stoll S, Pohl O, Scheuer K, Müller WE. Gingko biloba extract (EGb 761) attenuates age-related memory deficits in female NMRI mice. Pharmacopsychiat. 26: 204, 1993.

Pycnogenol keeps memory in shape

With increasing age it gets more and more annoying: we can't remember phone numbers, we keep on searching for keys, we return from the supermarket and realize we've forgotten half the items. We come across people we know but are momentarily unable to recall their names.

This is a natural sign of aging. To some extent this memory loss can be delayed by regularly stimulating the mind, often referred to as "mental exercise". Healthy nutrition is often claimed of being helpful, but no comprehensive guidelines are available. A solution now has been discovered by Dr. Benjamin Lau and his colleagues from the Loma Linda University in California.

Dr. Lau investigated memory retention and learning ability of mice and explored the possibility to retard age-related deterioration by giving food supplements. He discovered that older mice which had regularly received an extract of the bark of the French maritime pine, Pycnogenol, showed a markedly improved memory and learning ability. In fact, older mice treated with Pycnogenol for two months almost retained levels of young mice. Other researchers who carried out related studies with an extract of Gingko biloba, fed 10 to 20 times the amount to mice.

Recent studies have demonstrated how effective Pycnogenol shields neuronal cells from oxidative stress. Dr. Dave Schubert of the Salk Institute (La Jolla) found that Pycnogenol is so powerful it completely prevents oxidative damage caused by amyloid-ß, a protein associated with Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Lester Packer (University of California, Berkeley) has recently shown that Pycnogenol protects neuronal cells from dangers of the flavor enhancer glutamate.

The nervous system consists of very fragile cells and for optimum performance they depend on excellent protection, as provided by Pycnogenol. We need all our mental capacity to stay competitive in the modern world of today, where knowledge and information are the keys to success. Pycnogenol helps us to keep the pace.

Effects of Pycnogenol on memory retention.

The number of mice which successfully remembered to avoid leaving a platform was recorded over 10 days. Young control mice (squares); old mice (circles); old mice fed with Pycnogenol, 5 mg/kg (open triangles), 10 mg/kg (solid triangles). Significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed between old mice and old mice fed with Pycnogenol.

1. Kiu F, Zhang Y, Lau BHS. Pycnogenol improves learning impairment and memory deficit in senescence-accelerated mice. J Anti-Aging Medicine 2 (4): 349-355, 1999.
2. Rohdewald P. Pycnogenol. In: Flavonoids in health and disease. Ed. C.A. Rice-Evans and L. Packer. Marcel Dekker, Inc. 405-419, 1998.
3. Kobayashi MS, Han D, Packer L. Antioxidants and herbal extracts protect HT-4 neuronal cells against glutamate-induced cytotoxicity. Free Rad Res 32: 115-124, 2000.
4. Stoll S, Pohl O, Scheuer K, Müller WE. Gingko biloba extract (EGb 761) attenuates age-related memory deficits in female NMRI mice. Pharmacopsychiat. 26: 204, 1993.