Ultimate Antioxidants

Grape Seed Extract and Pine Bark Extract

Nowadays, most people interested in health through nutrition have heard of pine bark extract, often known as pycnogenol. In Britain, another extract from grape seeds is less well known, although in Europe grape seed is the preferred extract.

A French researcher, Dr. Jacques Masqualier, holds the patents for both extracts, having developed pine bark extract in 1951 and grape seed extract in 1970. Dr. Masqualier prefers grape seed extract, and almost all the research into effects on health has been done on this extract, rather than on pine bark.

So what are these extracts?

In nature, there are about 5,000 compounds classed as polyphenols. Vitamin E is an example of a phenolic compound. Included in this group are about 4,000 compounds called bioflavonoids. Citrus bioflavonoids, catechin (in green tea) and quercetin are some examples of the bioflavonoids.

Proanthocyanidins and Anthocyanosides

There are two subgroups of bioflavonoids that concern us here. These are the proanthocyanidins and the anthocyanosides.

One characteristic of both of these groups is their strong colour. They are natural pigments and have colours ranging from red to blue. A good example of a plant containing large amounts of anthocyanosides is bilberry, whose berries have a strong blue colour. Other pigments are responsible for the red colour of some grapes.

What do bioflavonoids do?

All of the bioflavonoids have beneficial effects on the body, some more than others. The best-known and most fundamental effect of this group of nutrients is their antioxidant (free radical scavenging) effect. The best- known antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene, but the proanthocyanidin group of bioflavonoids have 20-50 times the antioxidant activity of vitamins C and E.

Proanthocyanidins and a closely related group of nutrients called anthocyanosides are the most active of all the bioflavonoids, and they can have an amazing array of beneficial effects, mainly because of their antioxidant capability, but also because they inhibit certain enzymes that can cause the breakdown of protein structures and connective tissues. Collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid are important components of connective tissues, cartilage, skin and internal membranes such as intestinal surfaces, but possibly most important of all, they are important to the integrity and elasticity of the walls of arteries and veins, from the large vessels right down to the capillaries. The enzymes collagenase, elastase and hyaluronase can break down the various proteins. Proanthocyanidins inhibit these.

When protein structures are attacked by free radicals, cross-linking occurs, and they become rigid. The obvious sign of this is dry and wrinkled skin, but bear in mind that the structures inside the body are changing in the same way, with the obvious effects on general physical condition.

Fats in the body can also be oxidised by free radicals, causing rancidity and carcinogenic effects, but it is less well known that “essential fatty acids” also form part of the structure of every cell wall in the body, so oxidation can lead to breakdown at the cellular level.

Protective Functions

Because of the widespread effects of free radicals, the high antioxidant capability of proanthocyanidins and anthocyanosides can help in the following range of functions:

a) Microcirculation of blood in the extremities; thus they can help cold hands and feet.

b) Circulation within the brain, and in the capillaries within the heart.

c) By strengthening artery and vein walls in the lower regions of the body, they can reduce varicose veins and oedema. (Oedema is commonly thought to be caused by excess water retention, but is in fact excessive seepage of fluids from capillaries into surrounding tissue.)

d) Help prevent excessive capillary fragility and permeability caused by diabetes.

e) A very important effect is that because of effects on both proteins and fats, they “thin” the blood and reduce tendency to clotting. In this respect, grapeseed extract has been tested against aspirin and been found to have equal powers, without the side effects.

f) Because of improvement to microcirculation in the head and eyes, they can improve visual function.

g) Ladies, most important of all, they slow down wrinkles, and because they improve the condition of the capillaries they increase circulation in the skin, improving the “glow” of the skin.

h) Anti-ageing: Not forgetting that the improved condition of the skin is repeated in all tissues of the body, it slows down degenerative and ageing processes all over, including the entire cardiovascular system.

i) Arthritis; it is now generally recognised that osteoarthritis is a general degeneration of cartilage caused largely by free radical damage. Proanthocyanidins can have very strong protective effects against this, and could therefore be a part of treatment against arthritis.

j) Bioflavonoids can have very powerful anti-inflammatory effects, and can therefore help the symptoms of arthritis. On occasion, 150mg doses of proanthocyanidins have relieved the pain of arthritis overnight.

k) Anti-ageing; as we age, there is a gradual deterioration all over the body, caused by free radical damage. As proantho-cyanidins have a strong antioxidant effect, they can slow down the ageing process considerably.

Grape seed and pine bark extracts

Both of these extracts contain a wide variety of proanthocyanidins, but each contain some that the other doesn’t. There is a particular organic acid, gallic acid, which when attached to the proanthocyanidin molecules increases their antioxidant effect considerably. One such molecule is epicatechin-3-0-gallate. Pine bark extract does not contain this compound.

Pine bark extracts do, however, contain other compounds not found in grape seed extract. Examples are ferulic acid and cinnamic acid. None are as powerful as epicatechin-3-0-gallate.

From the evidence, we would choose grape seed extract ahead of pine bark extract, and there are a number of companies that produce 100mg capsules of this, containing 95% of proanthocyanidins. In sheer amount of anti-oxidants, these are the strongest available.

Synergism

However, in herbalism, there is the principle of synergy, where slightly different compounds working together produce a total effect far greater than would be expected. If the two extracts are mixed together, there is a much wider range of antioxidants, producing a greatly enhanced effect.

One company has mixed the two together, but has taken synergism even further by adding the anthocyanosides from red grape skins. The anthocyanosides have been shown in tests to “thin” blood, to relax artery walls and reduce cholesterol.

In addition to this, grapes contain another nutrient not found in pine bark. This nutrient is resveratrol, which has powerful antioxidant effects, but is also a very good detoxifier.