Dear health newsletter subscribers:

Have you ever heard the terms "free radicals," "antioxidants," "OPCs," or "super-antioxidants"? Well, here is some information that we think you might find interesting.

Basically free radicals or "oxidants" are a form of oxygen that is damaging to our bodies. They attack all cells and are involved in the aging of all tissues. They work against our immune systems and play a major role in the development of all chronic degenerative diseases and various other health ailments like atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration, etc.

Modern society produces a lot of contributors to free radical formation. These include pesticides, environmental pollution, and second-hand cigarette smoke, among others. Free radicals also rise with overexposure to ultraviolet rays produced by the sun. Stress can raise the level of free radicals, as can chronic illnesses such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Also, as we get older, our defense systems become less aggressive and free radicals have more opportunity to cause harm.

Unless you have been living in seclusion on some deserted island somewhere, you are probably aware that antioxidant nutrients, such as vitamins C, E, selenium, and a variety of carotene-like substances, can help counter free radical production in the body. Scientists call this "free radical scavenging."

Many herbal medicines also offer antioxidant support for free radical scavenging. The herbal constituents that shine in this area are the bioflavonoids. Occurring in a wide variety of edible plants, bioflavonoids are one of nature's most potent antioxidants. Super-antioxidants, also known as proanthocyanidins or OPCs, fit into this category. These are often 20 times more potent than Vitamin C, 50 times more potent than Vitamin E, and are produced from the extracts of such things as pine bark, grape seeds, and rare herbs.

Now for a little history:

In 1554, the French explorer, Jacques Cartier, led an expedition up the St. Lawrence River. They were trapped by winter and had to live on rations with no fruits or vegetables. Several developed scurvy and died. Then a native Indian taught them to prepare tea from pine bark and needles, and as they drank it, they recovered and survived the winter.

In 1757, a doctor began giving British sailors lemon juice to prevent scurvy.

In 1928, the Hungarian scientist, Szent Gyorgyi, isolated vitamin C from citrus and other sources. It helped prevent scurvy, but results were not consistent. He later isolated bioflavonoids which he called vitamin P. He blended the two together and called the mixture "citrin". It was more reliable, but results were still inconsistent.

Then in 1947, Professor Dr. Jack Masquelier, working at the University of Bordeaux in France, isolated proanthocyanidins from the skins of peanuts. Their chemical name: Oligomeric ProanthoCyanidins (OPCs). "Oligo" is from the Greek, meaning "a few" and "Pro" means "before" or "produces", and "anthoCyanins" are the red compounds that OPCs turn into when fruit ripens. OPCs are found in most plants and in red wines, flowers, leaves, fruits, berries, nuts, sorghum, beans and hops with high concentrations in skins, barks, and seeds. The most efficient sources are from grape seed and French maritime pine bark.

OPCs are probably the most versatile nutrients ever discovered. They are highly bioavailable and active in the body as tremendous free radical scavenging antioxidants. They help protect against all degenerative conditions, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, allergies and aging by neutralizing or changing free radicals into harmless substances. OPCs are known to cross the blood / brain barrier and improve oxygenation of brain tissue, which may be helpful in preventing attention deficit disorders. One of the greatest values of OPCs is their ability to preserve and protect collagen and its production and help maintain healthy capillaries. Collagen is an important structural constituent of our blood vessels, skin, and connective tissues including ligaments, tendons and others.

Can we obtain OPCs from our diet? A healthy diet rich in whole raw fruits and vegetables contains proanthocyanidins. Unfortunately, most people discard the parts of foods (stems, seeds, skins, etc.) that contain the most of them. Also, most herbs contain representative amounts of them. Red wine is actually the richest food source of OPCs. In fact, one of the reasons, Dr. Masquelier started researching was that the French who eat food notoriously high in fat, generally have a relatively low incidence of cardiovascular disease. Guess what? - the French drink a lot of red wine!

Okay, why all this information now?

As potent super-antioxidants, the OPCs in the Life Plus product called PROANTHENOLS are the most valuable anti-aging nutrients found. As previously stated, they are many times more powerful than the well known vitamins C and E. In fact, if the PROANTHENOLS OPCs are taken along with the traditional antioxidants, they can greatly enhance the effectiveness of these vitamins!

Another reason is that the Life Plus PROANTHENOLS is the best product of its kind on the market today. They are manufactured with Dr. Masquelier's patented REAL OPC formulation which is 100% bioavailable and 100% residue free. There are so many health benefits from using PROANTHENOLS that we feel they should be a part of everyone's nutritional / dietary program.

If you think you might be interested in regularly supplementing your diet with PROANTHENOLS and you would like to read more about the product, please visit our web page at: http://www.aomega.com/ahs/p1950a.htm There you will find links to even more details, the other Life Plus products, and ordering information / instructions.

Please feel free to send us an e-mail at ahs-news@aomega.com if you have any questions or concerns regarding PROANTHENOLS or anything stated in the health news special edition. May God bless you and your health!

Sandi & Darrin

AlphaOmega Marketing
Archangel Health Store
http://www.aomega.com/ahs/index.htm

Copyright © 1997 by Sandi and Darrin Quiles. All rights reserved.