Vitamin E is one of the most important natural free radical scavengers or antioxidants. Can resist oxidation and aging. In addition, vitamin E is also a beauty necessity. Can enter skin cells, and has anti-free radical chain reaction effect. It is better than superoxide dismutase in theory. Because superoxide dismutase works again after free chain reaction, and its preservation form is not ideal, it is easy to be destroyed. And vitamin e itself is a good antioxidant, which can be immediate. Therefore, vitamin E can be applied to the face for beauty.
Because of the hydrophobic structure of vitamin E, it can be inserted into the biomembrane with unsaturated fatty acids, such as cell membrane, meat net, adrenal gland, lipid protein and so on. Its main function is to resist lipid peroxidation, that is, to remove free radicals produced in the chain reaction of lipid peroxidation. Vitamin e has an efficient antioxidant effect. It is observed that one vitamin E molecule can act on 1000 lipid molecules. With such high efficiency, it is impossible to rely solely on vitamin E without the participation of other systems. Vitamin E forms an effective redox chain with vitamin C, reduced glutathione GSH and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced NADPH) in vivo, which plays a cyclic reduction role in the anti-oxygen process. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, which can circulate in blood and body fluids. Therefore, it is in the forefront in antioxidant and free radical scavenging. Vitamin C can remove singlet oxygen in active oxygen, oxygen in hydroxyl radical, oxygen in hydrogen peroxide, oxygen in ozone and oxygen in hydroxide. Can prevent cancers such as lung cancer, gastric cancer and cataract.
Vitamin C has redox properties because of its molecular structure. It plays an antioxidant role in the normal operation of redox chain in the body. The reduction of vitamin C is continuously oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid A in the redox chain, and then reduced to AH2, so that vitamin C can continuously exert its antioxidant function. The antioxidant effect of AH2 can protect red blood cells and scavenge oxygen free radicals in tissues. Redox chains include glutathione, vitamin E, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (reduced) NADH, NADPH and ascorbic acid reductase.
Beta-carotene is the precursor of vitamin A, which not only has the same function as vitamin A, but also can promote cell differentiation and stimulate immune system. More importantly, it is an antioxidant, which can inhibit lipid peroxidation of cell membrane and eliminate excessive free radicals in the body. Vitamin E, vitamin C and β -carotene are three famous antioxidant vitamins.
Why do trace elements zinc, copper and manganese have the effects of scavenging free radicals and antioxidation? Because of their most important antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase, copper-zinc superoxide dismutase and manganese superoxide dismutase. Selenium is a component of glutathione peroxidase. At present, domestic research shows that Keshan disease caused by selenium deficiency is also a disease related to free radicals. Selenium supplementation can resist oxidation and scavenge free radicals.
Pycnogenol
Pycnogenol is a natural plant extract, and it is a kind of health food with strong oxidation resistance. It comes from the bark of pine trees on the southern coast of Bordeaux, France. It contains nearly 40 components, including bioflavonoids, organic acids and other bioactive components. It has strong free radical scavenging and antioxidant functions, and can prevent more than 70 diseases related to free radicals, such as heart disease, cancer and arthritis.
Pycnogenol is widely used in Europe for varicose veins, edema of lower limbs and pollen allergy. Now, Pycnogenol, with good beauty and skin care function, is praised as "skin vitamin" by consumers. With the deepening of research, more and more other functions of Pycnogenol have been found, such as nutrition to protect blood vessels, scavenging free radicals, preventing and treating heart disease, hypertension, cancer, arthritis, retinal hemorrhage, ADHD in children, Alzheimer's disease, and improving immune function. At present, Pycnogenol has become an advanced health food widely used in the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea.
First, the antioxidant properties of Pycnogenol and its scavenging effect on free radicals.
The characteristics of Pycnogenol in scavenging free radicals combined with antioxidation are as follows.
(1) Pycnogenol can help all systems of the body to function normally.
⑵ Pycnogenol can penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
(3) Pycnogenol is a known strong antioxidant, which is stronger than vitamin E and vitamin C.
⑷ Pycnogenol and its bioavailability are good.
Pycnogenol is water-soluble, and practice has proved that it has no side effects and is very safe to use.
[6] Pycnogenol can protect vitamin C, so that vitamin C will not degrade when taken and stay in the body for a long time.
(7) Pycnogenol is a complex composed of flavone monomer, diclofenac and oligomer, so its function in the body can be maintained for a long time.
In the musculoskeletal system, rheumatoid arthritis, myalgia and tendinitis are all inflammatory diseases, and these inflammations are all related to free radical damage. Free radicals destroy the cell membrane in skeletal muscle system, so that cells can't absorb nutrients normally, and at the same time, they can't discharge intracellular waste, which leads to inflammation. Pycnogenol can scavenge free radicals in skeletal muscle system and prevent inflammation.
Due to the high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids in the central nervous system, the oxygen content in the brain accounts for 20% of the whole body. Therefore, the central nervous system is easily oxidized and attacked by free radicals. Many nervous system diseases are caused by lipid oxidation. Most antioxidants can't cross the blood-brain barrier, but pycnogenol can cross the blood-brain barrier, so it is of great benefit to a series of systemic diseases damaged by free radicals. For example, the cause of Alzheimer's disease is that free radicals destroy the cell membrane of the central nervous system, so that these cells can neither ingest nutrients normally nor excrete aluminum as a metabolite, so that aluminum accumulates in the brain, which leads to Alzheimer's disease. Insomnia, ADHD and epilepsy are all related to free radicals attacking the central nervous system and lipid peroxidation. Pycnogenol can effectively prevent and treat these diseases. Some drugs can also cross the blood-brain barrier and act on the central nervous system, but there are always side effects. For example, make users sleepy or sleepy. The advantage of pycnogenol is that it can pass through the blood-brain barrier without any side effects.
Why does pycnogenol have strong antioxidant and free radical scavenging abilities of vitamin E and vitamin C? Its high bioavailability is one of the main reasons. After taking Pycnogenol orally for about 20 minutes, the existence of Pycnogenol can be confirmed by saliva test. According to the pharmacokinetic test, pycnogenol can exist in the body for at least 72 hours, while vitamin C can only exist in the body for 4 ~ 6 hours. Because Pycnogenol is water-soluble, it can enter the body quickly and easily, and once it is not needed by the body, it will be excreted, so there is no side effect. Fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin E and vitamin A, can be poisoned if taken in excess.
Why does Pycnogenol have a good antioxidant effect? Because it can protect and strengthen the function of vitamin C. Pycnogenol taken together with vitamin C can prolong the time of vitamin C in the body. Therefore, the body needs more vitamin C to reach the target cells. Dr linus pauling, the Nobel Prize winner of C-pulp, believes that vitamin C has many functions, such as preventing and treating colds and tumors. But in fact, these effects are not significant, mainly because vitamin C is easily destroyed by oxidation. After taking vitamin C, it is destroyed before reaching the target cells in the body. Therefore, the dosage of vitamin C is increasing, sometimes reaching 2000mg. Such a large dose, although not so serious side effects, can sometimes cause diarrhea. If vitamin C and pycnogenol are taken together, pycnogenol can protect vitamin C from being destroyed and make vitamin C play its due role in the body.
Vitamin E has a strong antioxidant effect, and the efficiency of anti-free radical lipid peroxidation is amazing. It is estimated that each vitamin E molecule can act on 1000 lipid molecules. Without the participation of other systems, such high efficiency is impossible, so there is a theory of interaction between vitamin C and vitamin C. In the lipid phase, vitamin C has no anti-lipid peroxidation effect, but in the presence of vitamin E, vitamin C has a high anti-lipid peroxidation effect. When vitamin E and vitamin C exist, vitamin C can have higher anti-lipid molecules. At this time, vitamin E is not consumed, but vitamin C is consumed. Only when vitamin C is exhausted will vitamin E be consumed. Pycnogenol is not only a strong antioxidant, but also has synergistic effect with antioxidant vitamin C, and vitamin C and vitamin E have synergistic effect, which makes the antioxidant effect of the three stronger.
Second, the health care mechanism of Pycnogenol
Pycnogenol consists of 85% proanthocyanidins (a natural strong antioxidant), 5% catechol and epicatechin, and 2% ~ 4% organic acids, organic acid esters and glucose. Procyanidins belong to bioflavonoids. St George, the Nobel Prize winner, thinks that bioflavonoids in nature have many special functions and are mainly derived from plant foods, so they can be called vitamin P. Bioflavonoids have anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-viral, anti-tumor and anti-atherosclerosis effects. Flavonoids are phenols or polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants, metal chelates and free radical scavengers. Flavonoids have shading effect in plants, which can prevent the DNA of plants from being damaged by ultraviolet rays or other rays. Bioflavonoids and vitamin C coexist in plants. Bioflavonoids can not only protect and stabilize vitamin C, but also preserve vitamin C. At the same time, it is also helpful for the body to absorb vitamin C. Bioflavonoids can affect most enzyme systems in the body, such as protein kinase, tyrosine kinase, phosphokinase, cytochrome p450 and glutathione transferase. These enzymes have effects on human diseases such as mast cells, basophils, neutrophils, eosinophils, macrophages, B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes and platelets. Bioflavonoids can promote the secretion and production of neurotransmitters, and prevent and interfere with lipid peroxidation, antigen production, platelet aggregation, vascular intimal adhesion and malignant cell reproduction. No organic compound has so many and extensive functions as bioflavonoids.
The powerful function of Pycnogenol mainly lies in its complex form of bioflavonoids. Nobel Prize winner St George purified vitamin C at 1928. Comparing the extracts of lemon extract and Hungarian pepper rich in vitamin C, it is found that the latter two have stronger anti-capillary and anti-brittleness effects than vitamin C alone. St. George thinks this is the effect of flavonoids in plants, which is the first report of flavonoids' therapeutic effects. So, the question is, are the fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C such as lemon, monkey peach, wild jujube, thorn pear and pepper? Are their beneficial effects on human body simple vitamin C or the compound effect of vitamin C and flavonoids? Obviously the latter.
Vitamin C is a monophenol compound, and there can be monophenol at α, β and γ positions, which are called α-tocopherol, β-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol. Because pycnogenol is soluble in water and contains polyphenols, its effect is stronger than vitamin E.
Pycnogenol is a compound composed of lutein monomer, dimer and oligomer. It can be composed of one or two flavonoids, or it can be an oligomer composed of four to eight flavonoids. Because it contains catechol and epicatechin, these two catechins are good antioxidants, which has been confirmed in large-scale research on tea polyphenols. In addition, the organic acids contained in it are also good free radical scavengers.
After taking pycnogenol, it is first digested and absorbed in the intestine, and then transported to the blood in the form of flavonoids monomers, dimers and oligomers, and then transported to all organs, tissues and cells where the blood passes. After a period of time, oligomers slowly decompose into smaller oligomers, then slowly decompose from oligomers into smaller oligomers, and then degrade from oligomers into dimers and monomers. So pycnogenol has two functions. First, all its components, such as proanthocyanidins, polyphenols and organic acids, followed by dimers and monomers. This may explain why the effect of pycnogenol can be extended to 3 ~ 8 days.
Third, the health function of Pycnogenol
Passwater, MD, director of the Sorgen Nutrition Research Center in Berlin, Germany, has been studying free radical medicine for 35 years and is now one of the internationally renowned free radical medical authorities. In his book Pycnogenol-Super "Protective" Nutrients, he summarized the nutritional and health functions of Pycnogenol as follows.
1 can prevent and reduce the risk of a series of diseases.
(1) heart disease;
(2) cancer;
(3) aging;
⑷ Oxidative stress reaction;
5.70 kinds of diseases related to free radicals;
2. Enhance the structure and strength of blood vessels.
(1) Maintain the normal osmotic pressure of capillaries;
⑵ Reduce the brittleness of capillaries;
(3) reduce contusion;
(4) Enhance the strength of capillaries, veins and arteries;
5] Reduce sports injuries and reduce the severity of injuries.
[6] Reduce and relieve varicose veins;
(7) Relieve and reduce edema and swelling of lower limbs;
(8) Prevention and treatment of chronic venous insufficiency;
(9) Reduce the occurrence of vasculitis.
3. Increase the elasticity and rigidity of red blood cells.
4. Improve skin health
(1) Increase skin elasticity;
⑵ Increase skin smoothness;
(3) it can prevent and treat psoriasis;
(4) It can protect the skin from the sun.
5, prevention and treatment of allergic allergy or allergic reaction.
It is particularly effective for allergic reactions to hay fever.
6. Prevention and treatment of inflammation
(1) can inhibit inflammation;
⑵ Improve the flexibility of joints;
(3) It can relieve the pain of joint swelling.
7. Diabetes
Can relieve fundus diseases caused by diabetes.
8. Enhance immune function
(1) Enhance immune resistance;
⑵ Reduce the number of colds.
9. Eye care
(1) Reduce fundus lesions;
⑵ Help to prevent and treat fundus capillary hemorrhage and floating foreign bodies (floaters).
10, Prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases
Prevention and treatment of duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer and gastroenteritis.
Pulean
In recent years, free radical scavenging and antioxidant health foods have mushroomed. The diet for longevity is not bad. Ginkgo biloba, cyanobacteria, green tea, ginseng, medlar, ganoderma lucidum, etc. It was accepted by the east and the west and set off a craze. Recently, a health food made of grape seed extract (OPC) with the trade name Prozac has also entered this ranks and begun to show its advantages.
Grape seed extract includes several different forms of proanthocyanidins, and their mixture is called oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPC). 1970, Dr. Masqueiier of Bordeaux University in France discovered OPC extracted from pine trees and pine bark. Grape seeds also contain OPC, and the effect is better than that extracted from pine needles and bark. He named the proanthocyanidins extracted from pine needles and bark "OPC-85" and the proanthocyanidins extracted from grapes "OPC-85+". "OPC-85+" has been patented in France.
Dr. Ma confirmed through experiments that OPC has 85% bioavailability in human body. When people take OPC capsules for 20 minutes, they can be detected in blood and can last for 75 hours. OPC is a water-soluble substance, which must be supplemented every day to maintain enough OPC in the blood and keep healthy. The most important component in grape seed is anthocyanin. Anthocyanin is a bioflavonoid, which has antioxidant effect, can eliminate free radicals, protect blood vessels, and also has anti-inflammatory and detumescence effects. Anthocyanins improve memory ability and reduce the adverse effects of external pressure on the body. It can also reduce the formation of histamine and eliminate allergic reactions.
Grape seed OPC contains 80% ~ 85% proanthocyanidins, 5% catechins and epicatechin, and 2% ~ 4% organic acids such as caffeic acid (precursors of catechins and epicatechin can be converted into catechins and epicatechin at any time). Catechin and epicatechin are also powerful antioxidants, which play an extraordinary antioxidant role together with grape seed OPC. According to the above structural analysis, the antioxidant content in grape seeds is basically similar to that of Pycnogenol. Grape seeds contain a variety of organic acids, including caffeic acid, cinnamic acid, fumaric acid, gallic acid, vanillic acid, ferulic acid and protocatechuic acid. These organic acids can also be found in other plants. For example, coriander and spinach contain caffeic acid; Grapes that eat rhubarb contain ferulic acid; Fumaric acid contained in chives and beetroot; Eggplant and radish contain gallic acid. These trace organic acids gather together, which makes grape OPC have strong free radical scavenging and antioxidant ability.
From 65438 to 0950, doctors in Europe know that OPC can strengthen capillaries and reduce swelling of legs and ankles. Since 1960s, doctors began to treat hay fever and allergy with grape seed OPC, and all achieved satisfactory results. Since 1970, researchers have found that OPC is beneficial to the formation of skin protein, which can keep the skin elastic and smooth. Since then, OPC has become a skin vitamin. Euphemistically called "oral skin cosmetics".
In recent 40 years, more and more studies have proved that free radicals are the main factors to promote human aging. In recent five years, more biochemists and doctors believe that OPC is the strongest antioxidant for scavenging free radicals. It can prevent and treat more than 80 diseases caused by free radicals, including heart disease, cancer and arthritis.
The United States is the country with the largest number of heart disease deaths in the world, accounting for half of the total deaths every year, and 55% of the hearts are caused by arteriosclerosis. Arteriosclerosis is also an important factor leading to stroke.
How is arteriosclerosis formed? Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in human body is generally considered as bad cholesterol, which accumulates in blood vessels after oxidation to form plaques and promote arteriosclerosis. Atherosclerosis hinders blood circulation. When 75% of blood circulation is blocked, angina pectoris or cardiac arrest will occur in the heart, and memory loss will occur in the brain, which will lead to stroke, sometimes hamstring muscle or intermittent claudication, and even paralysis of lower limbs. Every year, 60,000 people in the United States travel in wheelchairs because of strokes.
At the 1990 International Grape Seed Conference, Dr. White of the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom claimed that it was the right medicine to treat arteriosclerosis with grape seed OPC. Effective and safe. It can also protect the inner wall of blood vessels from damage and prevent platelets from clotting to form blood clots, thus eliminating the risk of stroke.
People's aging, the most obvious is the increase of skin wrinkles. In vitro, due to the destruction of solar ultraviolet rays, in vivo, due to the destruction of free radicals and many unhealthy enzymes, the skin changes from smooth to rough, the elasticity gradually decreases, and wrinkles are everywhere. Grape seed is a natural sunscreen, which can prevent ultraviolet rays from damaging the skin. Dr. Ar-stilla of Finland proved that sunlight can kill 50% skin cells in skin cell culture tubes. After OPC protection, about 85% of the skin is free from death. Bioflavonoids in grape seeds can repair collagen and elastin fibers damaged by free radicals and protect skin from free radicals, thus keeping skin smooth and elastic for a long time and delaying or reducing wrinkles.
Another discovery of Dr. White is that OPC can inhibit the action of monooxygenase. This enzyme catalyzes the carcinogen benzopyrene in cigarettes to become dioxide, thus inhibiting the occurrence of cancer. This is undoubtedly good news for people who cause cancer by smoking.
In addition, grape seed OPC has been clinically proved to be able to treat allergic diseases such as varicose veins, hay fever, asthma and common complications of diabetes, such as brittle rupture and bleeding of fundus capillaries, which is the main cause of blindness in the elderly. To sum up, regular intake of grape OPC health food can make people look young and achieve the purpose of prolonging life.