PROANTHOCYANIDIN

New Research has revealed that there is a micro-nutrient which can sustain your athletic endeavors, career, and /or quest for better general health

Ritchi Morris, D.Sc., Ph.D.

Published in Health World

After many years as a sports nutritionist, sports psychologist, champion natural powerlifter and martial arts black belt, I have discerned that the major common denominator among athletes is a quest for "the edge." New research has revealed that there is a micronutrient which can aid your quest for this "edge." It is called "Proanthocyanidin" The recent heightened interest in antioxidants has tended to focus on the more commonly known vitamins C, E, A, beta carotene and selenium.

However, the most effective category of healers has been occluded: Bioflavonoids. These nutritionally valuable substances have been utilized in other countries for centuries to treat deterioration diseases and conditions with great success. Research has shown that bioflavonoids serve very effectively as anti -inflammatories, antihistamines, antiallergenic's, and antihemorrhagics.

These studies have also emphasized that proanthocyanidin is "remarkably superior" to the other 20,000 or so bioflavonoids in this regard and as a vitamin C potentiator.

Thus, few if any other natural substances known to man promote injury prevention. expedite recuperation and rejuvenation, and sustained good overall health as well as s proanthocyanidin.

WHAT IS PROANTOCYANIDIN?
Proanthocyanidin is a highly productive natural substance found in certain plants in the regions of southern Europe and the northeast Mediterranean. The most abundant source is the bark of the maritime pine tree (Pinus maritimus). Although the first isolator of Proanthocyanidin is considered to have been Dr. Masquelier of the University of Bordeaux, there is historical evidence that the early Native Americans used a tea made of pine bark and needles to heal illnesses of the skin, gastrointestinal and digestive tract, and musculo/skeletal and respiratory systems. To this day, the Iroquois Indians of upper New York State employ the tea of Pinaster Pine for healing.

Proanthocyanidin has been shown to the most powerful natural antihistamine, anti-aging, and free radical scavenger isolated to date. French researchers of the university of Bordeaux and Pasteur Institute have demonstrated scientifically that these properties of Proanthocyanidin are some 20 times stronger that vitamin C's properties in this regard. The key to its potency seems to be that it is the only bioflavonoid which actively permeates the blood-brain barrier.

The critical importance of this ability is that only proanthocyanidin can scavenge free radicals BEFORE they ravage the central nervous system (which is highly susceptible to oxidative damage). This capacity also allows proanthocyanidin to be more bioavailable and readily absorbable than any other antioxidant or bioflavonoid.

Of major concern with most substances is their safety and/or toxicity levels. Extensive research at many European universities, such as Huntington Institute, has proven proanthocyanidins to be completely nontoxic, non carcinogenic, and nonmutagenic. They are readily and completely absorbed because they are water soluble. Hence the proanthocyanidin are very well tolerated (hypoallergenic) and long acting, being absorbed within 20-30 minutes after ingestion and remaining at the cellular level for 48-72 hours.

ESSENTIAL ROLES IN ATHLETICS
Probably the most critical factor necessary for a successful athletic career or quest for a healthy life style is: consistency. In order to achieve this there must be two integral variables: One, the ability to avoid injury; and two, the ability to recuperate and rejuvenate quickly.

Hence, with these in place one can sustain a consistent level of training complete with predicable cycles and outcomes. Dr. Tixier, et al., and Drs. P. Washko, D. Rotrosen and M. Levine have documented that proanthocyanidin accomplishes both of these goals via its extraordinary capacity to restore collagen, strengthen blood vessels, restore and maintain capillary integrity, reduce swelling and inflammation, and reduce histamine production.

REPLENISHES COLLAGEN & ELASTIN
There appear to be two major segments of the recuperation/rejuvenation cycle:

A- connective tissue repair; and B-endurance promotion.

Perhaps the cornerstone in the foundation of the injury-prevention/rejuvenation cycle is collagen. All phases of exertion entail stressors upon and breakdown of connective tissue. Most any type of exertion(beyond a passive action such as a yawn, a hand wave, or body waste elimination) involves the cycle of breakdown, and then restoration of connective tissue in the areas of the body where said exertion has occurred. Scientific literature is fraught with evidence that identifies the body's use of collagen to repair and strengthen its connective tissues. Even the allopathic medical doctors and dieticians agree with this.

More over, damages to connective tissue occur from the inflammation that results from chronic, degenerative syndromes such as arthritis as well as repeated sports or work injuries. it is at this point that the percent of bioavailability of fresh collagen and another important substance determine the amount and course of recovery.

This other essential micronutrient is elastin. It is this combination of collagen and elastin that give the body's external (i.g.: skin) and internal connective tissues their elasticity and resilience. What occurs at the site of a body tissue insult is a collection of neutrophils and macrophages. Inflammation results from the blood rushing these to the sight of insult and releasing proteolytic enzymes such as elastace-type proteases. Proanthocyanidin has been shown to behave in a "Pac Man" manner and prevent enzymatic degradation of the connective tissue by binding to the fibers of the connective tissue itself.

Also, this binding process protects the collagen and elastin fibers from losing their resilience due to the attacks of free radicals. Dr. Tixier (et al.) observes: "Pre-treatment of elastin with this flavonoid [(+)-catachin, a product of proanthocyandidin] completely inhibits the action of 10 mgs of purified enzyme."

In this way proanthocyanidin inhibits and / or counters inflammatory enzymes, thus offering relief for endemic and / or arthritic joints, certain allergy symptoms, and even swollen tissue sites such as hemorrhoids.

The other essential factor for peak athletic performance and/or overall health is stamina. This in turn involves two major bodily systems-the cardiovascular and respiratory. Proanthocyanidins have been shown to have a tremendously positive impact upon the vascular system.

Studies by various European universities have conclusively proven that Proanthocyanidin strengthen capillaries. German researchers have delineated the mechanism by which proanthocyanidin attaches very effectively to the vascular walls. This influences the process of red blood cell formation by strengthening them greatly. Proanthocyanidin helps to prevents platelet aggregation thereby preventing blood clots and other heart disease complications.

As Professor Artmann, in Fachhochchule Aachen, Germany, asserts: "(proanthocyanidin) stabilized leaky blood vessels by cross-linking collagen and by strengthening the membranes of red blood cells."

Proanthocyanidin's capacity to strengthen capillaries/ red blood cells manifests throughout the body. It has been implicated in the deterrence of degenerative neuromuscular syndromes and GTF maladaptive syndromes such as diabetes.

At the university Eye Clinic in Wurzburg, Germany, Dr. W. Leydhecher discovered that proanthocyanidin is as effective as any of the chemical compounds which are used to treat diabetic retinopathy. Specifically. proanthocyanidin's capillary strengthening power deters the micro-bleeding usually associated with diabetic retinopathy.

REDUCES HISTAMINE, INCREASES STAMINA
The other major division of endurance and stamina is the health and balance of the respiratory system. Histamine is one substance found in bodily tissue that can cause serious complications in the respiratory organs if produced in excess. Researchers such as R.A. Markle and T.M. Hollis identified the inhibiting impact of proanthocyanidin upon excesses of histamines on the body. Although histamines are necessary substances produced by your body, their excess can cause the dilation of capillaries and arterioles, hyperactivity, and constriction of smooth muscle tissue (the lining of the lungs and bronchii). painful conditions such as ulcers, asthma and a host of allergies can result. The inflammation of nasal and bronchial membranes caused by histamine release of granules stored in the mast cells (such as in asthma, hay fever, and / or allergies) can be quite disruptive to one's training regimen.

Investigations by scientists such as Dr. J. M. DeForest, et al., have substantiated the very effective inhibitory influence of proanthocyanidin on histidine and decarboxylase (the enzyme that catalyzes histidine to histamine ) thereby diluting histindine levels in the bloodstream.

There are several other benefits for your training afforded by this histamine-blocking property of proanthocyanidin. Although one may be in top condition, the stresses of sustaining this level of training along with the every day life schedule or high level competition before, during or afterward-can produce hypergastric conditions such as ulcers. The allopathic medical approach is to prescribe chemical compounds such as Tagemet or Zantac, which have serious side effects. A number of researchers have supported proanthocyanidin's value as a queller of stress-induced, histamine-mediated ulcers without any side effects.

RETARDS ARTERY DISEASES
Herein lies a final benefit for training and general good health. Because it is a proven histamine blocker and antioxidant and an inhibitor of the catylization of the decarboxylase enzyme to histamine, proanthocyanidin displays the capacity to prevent atherosclerosis

This has been explored by Markle and Hollis with very promising results. They observed in laboratory animals that the endothelial cells of the arterial walls increase their capacity for histamine formation when cholesterol consumption is increased.

My colleague, Dr. Harold Clark, an internationally known homeopathic cardiologist in New Rochelle, Now York, asserts that this process creates excessive aortic permeability which seems to be an underpinning of atherosclerosis. He believes, therefore, that proanthocyanidin "seems to have a very valuable capacity for heart disease prevention."
In view of the number of athletes who have experienced heart problems despite being in peak condition(e.g.; Jim Fixx; Arthur Ashe; and a number of professional football and basketball players who have had strokes). the positive implications from the ingestion of proanthocyanidin for prevention of these conditions loom large.

SOME GREAT NEWS
In summary, as you can see in the table below, Proanthocyanidins provide a myriad of healing promises to aid your quest for athletic and general health prowess. There exist a plethora of scientific research throughout the world which documents Proanthocyanidins' wide array of health-and stamina promoting properties.

THE CAPACITIES OF PROANTHOCYANDIDIN
Promotes tissue elasticity to help prevent injuries
Restore Collagen more quickly
Reduce swelling
Improve peripheral circulation
Enhance Vitamin C activity
Prevent degradation of ground substance (the supportive material between cells)
Improve varicose veins
Prevent bruising
Attack free radicals
Strengthen weak blood vessels
prevent platelet aggradation
Protect against atherosclerosis
Reduce histamine production
Protect capillary integrity

SOURCE
Metagenics' "Nutritional Pearls," 19, 2, November 1993.

Of primary importance is that proanthocyanidin is natural and has no known side effects, It is readily available in bioflavonoid compounds with vitamin C or independently, and is extremely efficient as your body absorbs it completely. Its ability to promote the production of collagen and thus the welfare and rejuvenation of connective tissue is unsurpassed. its antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, and anticlotting capacities are as good as or even better than the chemical drugs which are used by allopathic doctors for the same purposes.

Lastly, its ability to prevent and / or reduce tissue swelling at the cellular and joint levels is of paramount importance for sustained, consistent training. Its antihistamine and membrane ant- inflammatory actions make proanthocyanidin an important nutrient for preventing various structural and respiratory problems that flare up and often interrupt the flow and momentum of one's training.

One caution is that, like herbs, not all bioflavonoid compounds and sources are the same. There are only a few reliable producers of bioflavonoid complexes and proanthocyanidin formulas.

Furthermore, there are several vitamins and minerals which work very well synergistically with proanthocyanidin to enhance its effect and their effect reciprocally. For this information and /or programs suited to your individual needs, contact Dr. Morris at ( 914)333-9455 (he'll return you call COLLECT) or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Vital Quests, P. O. Box 912, Hartsdale, ny 10530-0912.