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Pycnogenol is a natural plant product made from the bark of the European coastal pine, Pinus Maritima. It is the most powerful antioxidant today and acts as a protector against environmental toxins.
Pycnogenol is basically the same anthocyanin compound found in grape seed extract, but the source of this trademarked antioxidant is the bark of the French Maritime Pine tree. Like grape seed, Pycnogenol is a water-soluble flavonoid, or polyphenol, complex with powerful antioxidant properties and effects on reducing blood clotting.
Like Vitamins C and E, Pycnogenol (pronounced Pick-nah-geh-nol), is a trade name for proanthocyanidin, a special family of bioflavanoids, plus 40 other biologically beneficial components. It is a powerful antioxidant which neutralizes unstable or "radical" oxygen molecules that attack the body's cells.
Pycnogenol is important to brain function, not only because it protects blood vessels, but also because it is only of the few dietary antioxidants that readily crosses the blood-brain barrier to protect brain cells. the blood-brain barrier protects the brain from compounds that normally circulate in the blood. Brain cells are very sensitive to some compounds, even though they many not damage other cells in the body or even be needed by other cells.
Pycnogenol ® (Pik-nah-gen-all) is a water extract from the bark of the French maritime pine grown as a mono-species forest, spread over the coastal region of south-west France. The unique source of Pycnogenol ®, the "pine bark" has a well-established monograph based on macroscopic and microscopic findings defining its pharmacogonistic characteristics, an essential feature of the quality confirmation.
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