Grape Seed Extract Fights Aging

In a conversation with my massage therapist, she revealed that she thinks she is coming down with a cold and has increased her intake of “Grape seed Extract.” She keeps my book within arm’s length, and then I remembered that I had written a whole chapter on grape seed extract. It is truly amazing how much we forget as we get older. And so I picked up my own copy of my book, “Make Eating A Lifestyle Change” and found a chapter devoted to the history and the wonderful properties of this ancient access to the “fountain of youth.”
The chapter in my book is entitled, “FIVE WAYS PCO FIGHTS AGING.” I had predicted the rise in the use of creams using PCO in anti-aging cosmetics. Europeans already buy these creams to reverse the aging process.
The Antioxidant armor in PCO helps two other antioxidant nutrients, vitamins C and E, block free radicals. Free radicals are the culprits in some 60 diseases - that doctors don’t pin on germs, including: heart disease, cataracts, arthritis, allergies, diabetes, liver disease and perhaps cancer.
PYCNOGENOL, now known as PCO for short was first researched back in the 50s. They can boost circulation, knock out free radicals, protect you from heart disease, and give you younger-looking skin. It is part of a family of semi-essential nutrients called bioflavonoid. Pine bark and grape seed extract belong to a small group originally known as pycnogenols and are also known as proanthocyanidins or procyanidolic oligomers---PCO for short.
You won’t find pine bark and grape seeds in the produce section of your local grocery but maybe you should. These plant products pack a potent punch against aging and disease.
In December 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier and his crew traveled up the St. Lawrence River in Canada and became trapped by ice. With only salted meat and biscuits to eat, they soon began to experience symptoms of scurvy --- a severe vitamin C deficiency. Nearly a quarter of the men died and more than half were seriously affected by this debilitating illness before a Quebec Indian told them about a tea made from tree bark.
The debilitated crew rapidly recovered after drinking the tea and using poultices made from it. Why? The bark contained vitamin C plus PCO, which helps the nutrient work faster and better.
Some 400 years later a French researcher, Jacques Masquelier, read Cartier’s account and started studying pine bark. He discovered that the maritime pine, or Bordeaux pine, in southern France was a rich source of this substance. In 1951, Masquelier patented a method of extracting PCO from pine bark. The term pycnogenol is now a registered trademark of a Swiss company that sells PCO supplements. It specifically refers to pine bark extract from maritime pine from Quebec and southern coastal France. You can find PCO in foods like apples, onions, tea, and blueberries, as well as in grape seeds. In fact, PCO from grape seeds, or grape seed extract is cheaper and even more potent than that from pine bark. Plus, most research on PCO has been done on grape seed extract.
Regardless of the source, PCO may prove a mighty ally in battling conditions common to aging including hardening of the arteries, stroke, disease, varicose veins, and diabetic circulation problems. As a bonus, PCO may keep you looking younger because it acts as an antioxidant to protect your skin from the sun and other environmental assaults. And it helps rebuild your skin, too.
PCO acts on its own, as well, to disarm free radicals. In laboratory experiments, Japanese researchers found the nutrient was 20 times more powerful than vitamin C at trapping free radicals. In fact, some researchers believe the PCO found in grapes should get credit for the way wine seems to protect you from heart disease. And so the parts of the puzzle begin to fit as you connect the benefits of wine to the French people in spite of the rich foods and high sugar content and fats. PCO may be at the root of that advantage.
PCO strengthens collagen, the basic building block of our skin, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage, as well as a major part of the “intercellular cement” that fills the space between every cell in your body. Strong collagen is especially important for blood vessels---and critical in the tiniest of blood vessels called capillaries.
Capillaries carry oxygen and nutrients to the cells and take away waste. Without them, cells would starve or drown in their own waste. Only one cell thick, capillaries are reinforced with collagen and depend on it to keep them strong enough to do their work. PCO not only supports vitamin C, needed to make collagen, but it also sticks to collagen, making it even stronger. Think of it as steel reinforcement for your circulatory system. This is important because if a capillary develops a hole, it’s a prime target for a free radical attack. Leaky capillaries also means that cells don’t get the nourishment to be healthy.
By strengthening weak vessels, PCO helps prevent bruising, and improves circulation in the legs to prevent swelling, pain and varicose veins. Reinforcing artery walls also helps prevent injuries to the walls that may cause hardening of the arteries. Once arteries are damaged, they tend to collect fat and cholesterol deposits, which narrow the passage, making it more difficult for blood to get through.
PCO also seems to stop blood from getting sticky and clotting---another way it can help you ward off heart attack or stroke. Finally, the blood-vessel-building power of PCO can help prevent the type of stroke caused when arteries burst or leak. This condition was suffered by one of our 83-year-olds and seems to have ended his enjoyment of a lifestyle of tennis and physical work-outs.
Younger-looking skin. As you age, your skin becomes thinner. The layer under the surface loses fat, causing the outer layer to sag. The skin fibers, once elastic, lose the ability to bounce back. In short, you get wrinkles. Skin counts on collagen for strength, elasticity and smoothness. It is not coincidence that many of our leading men and women are looking younger and as evidenced by their pictures---they have aged little in looks in a decade.
PCO not only halts free radical damage but binds to the collagen to prevent deterioration by enzymes. Plus, it can even return collagen fibers to their youthful, undamaged state. It’s like a cosmetic you put in, instead of on. The free-radical fighter can also protect your skin from further damage---from ultra-violet radiation of the sun. One laboratory study in Finland showed that 35 percent more skin cells survived sunlight exposure when protected by PCO.
Europeans can already buy “anti-aging” creams containing PCO. Look for a burst of PCO skin care products over here once the American cosmetic industry discovers the benefits of this bioflavonoid. Many companies are already touting products with antioxidants, but PCO’s chemical structure makes it penetrate your skin more easily. This may make PCO products more effective than those containing vitamins C and E.
Keeps swelling down. PCO may be helpful in inflammatory diseases such a arthritis, lupus, colitis, and hepatitis, but no one knows this for sure because researchers haven’t studied PCO’s effect on these illnesses.
Many people believe it helps reduce swelling caused by allergies---especially hay fever. PCO cuts down on the amount of histamine you make. That’s the stuff responsible for your swelling nasal passages and watery eyes. In Finland, PCO is a very popular allergy remedy.
I use an aspirin regimen to treat my rheumatoid arthritis.

In the fifth century B.C., Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, used willow bark to create a pain relieving medicine. The ingredient in willow bark that made it such a powerful pain reliever, salicylate, is the same active ingredient in modern aspirin. In 1983, doctors knew of the benefits of this ingredient in preventing heart attacks, helping to protect you from mind-robbing diseases like Alzheimer’s. For example, one study found that amongst pairs of elderly twins, those taking anti-inflammatory drugs, like aspirin or ibuprofen, on a regular basis, were 10 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Since Alzheimer’s is very likely to run in families, that’s pretty impressive.
Researchers think that regular use of anti-inflammatories may delay the disease by reducing the inflammation in the brain that could cause brain cell damage. Aspirin may also help because it keeps your blood flowing steadily to your brain.
Much of what we have known for centuries was wiped out by the greed of selling expensive “magic pills” and a bed-side manner that convinced patients that they didn’t have to know why - just fill the prescription.

The Creator’s Food Pharmacy For Healing

The Creator’s Food Pharmacy For Healing
The best of all pharmacists is our Creator. He uses the sun and combines the vitamins, herbs and minerals in the plants, fish, fruits and vegetables we eat. The biochemists try to replicate His work, but the body doesn’t understand the language of the MAGIC PILL. My book, “Make Eating A Lifestyle Change,” was encouraged by my rheumatologist, Ralph Argen, M.D., F.A.C.P. He was impressed with the results of my using herbs, vitamins, minerals - what they could do for you and what foods to eat to get the benefits.
He was so impressed, he convinced a man who was mainly an editorialist to dig in and begin the book in 2003. It turned out that he had other motives for the book than just documenting my eating regimen. His daughter had an eating disorder and so he had an ulterior motive. That turned out to be fine, because it was in keeping with my regimen of good food and exercise to keep the body fortified against disease. This blog was the idea of my computer repairman. He introduced me to the vehicle and helped me on my way. So you see, there are no accidents in life - just people who come along and plant a seed that grows into fruition and the results have been marvelous. My wife lost 60 pounds in one year and was crowned queen in front of 2500 people from her T.O.P.S. Chapter 50 and has continue to maintain a healthy weight for more than 6 years.
She developed Osteoarthritis and I was fighting Rheumatoid arthritis. Some doctors tell me that I am the expert on this disease because of the results of my research and clinical approach involving exercise in badminton, tennis, swimming, biking, walking, cooking and accessing the best sources of nutritional and medical research for my blogs.
My mother was Sicilian and my father was born in Warsaw, Poland. Between the two, I was lucky to have the best genes of two great ethnic groups. My father loved fish and grew his own garden of fresh fruits and vegetables, while my mother canned fresh fruit for the winter season and fed me the best salads with olives, red onions, tomato, dandelions and lettuce, celery and even asparagus grown in my father’s garden. Recent studies confirm my belief that these food groups support a healthy immune system and maintain strong muscles and bone mass. How lucky can any man be than to have such a foundation for my development in learning about a regimen to help many of the fine people in my groups: Senior Tennis League, Badminton Club, Healthy Eating and their friendship and support for one another.

UCLA DIVISION OF GERIATRICS, amongst many research centers, helps me keep abreast of the latest findings in “Anti-Aging” foods.
The Nature of the Diet
“The Mediterranean Diet emphasizes healthy, omega-three fats from fish, monounsaturated fats from olive oil, phytonutrient-rich plant foods, and red wine,” says Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. She says, “I think the Mediterranean food pyramid has some advantages over the USDA pyramid, particularly with its emphasis on fish and olive oil. The good reputation of the diet may be due in part to exercise, an integral part of life in the region. “Diet, lifestyle, and genetics are all determinants of health and longevity,” says Bowerman.
For over 30 years I have had the opportunity to guide and facilitate a lifestyle of fun-loving sport enthusiasts. These people are healthy of mind, body and spirit and I love each and every one of them.
The good news is that more doctors are leaning towards this approach to a healthy body. My physician friends are impressed with the knowledge I have accumulated regarding the benefits of certain foods. A few months ago my physician tested me by asking the benefits of fresh pineapple as it related to arthritis. When I answered, “Bromelain and Papain as they help the body reduce swelling and inflammation,” he complimented me and I could see that he was already suffering the effects of severe joint pain and arthritis. He is very open-minded and likes the stated research sources I include in my articles. This is a wonderful physician and a good listener as well as being able to analyze a problem and then suggest a strategy for dealing with the problem. An old fashioned approach, for sure, but still very much needed by his patients.
The food you eat can provide cancer-preventative qualities, especially if they are rich in the vibrant colors found naturally in an abundance of plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and the fresh water fish my father liked most: Sardines, herring, Pacific Sockeye Salmon and Mackerel.
The cancer-busting superstars these days are phytochemicals, plant compounds that exhibit strong antioxidant activities. A diet rich in a variety of plant foods can provide 25,000 different phytochemicals. Antioxidants help stabilize free radicals that are implicated in a number of diseases, including cancer. Researchers recently completed a table listing antioxidant contents of foods and concluded that cranberries, blueberries, and blackberries ranked highest in antioxidant capacity for fruits; beans and russet potatoes were at the top of the list for vegetables; pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts were highest in the nut category; and cloves, cinnamon, and oregano were at the top of three spices.
Ironically, these are all used in my kitchen, in the breakfast cereal with blueberries, apples, raisins and cinnamon; in my soups and chili, I use the cloves, oregano, onion and garlic.
Researchers suggest that there would be at least a 60-70 percent decrease in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers if people followed a cancer-preventative diet.
“Certainly fruits and vegetables show promise in reducing cancer risk,” says Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, assistant director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition. “This has been shown in many, many studies. We believe some of the protective effects are not only from the vitamins and minerals, and fiber, but from the multitude of nutrients that plants contain. Many of these phytonutrients give fruits and vegetables their intense colors.”
So you see, it isn’t simple, but it did exist in my grandmother’s generation when being poor meant that they picked mustard greens, dandelion, rhubarb and grew their own fruits without preservatives. They milked the goat and raised free-range chickens and the beagles helped my uncles hunt the rabbit and deer in a time when refrigerators and ice boxes didn’t exist. We shouldn’t really try to outsmart mother nature. Some things are best left to God.
And so I sign off once again saying, “God bless all you dear hearts and gentle people who join me in the world of naturopathic resolutions to the problems of aging and the diseases we fight from time to time. Yes, genes are important, but they won’t protect you when you put yourself in harm’s way - like running in front of a speeding truck like the pandemic of diseases that race through our current existence.