Pine bark extract, just like what the name pretty much reveals, is obtained from the bark of a maritime pine (pinus maritime or pinus pinaster) that is native to the southern portion of France. What’s so nice about pine bark extract is it can be produced without the need to destroy or kill off trees. Here’s another nice thing about it: pine bark extract is known to offer a wide variety of health benefits, ranging from the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men to symptom reduction in cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
These days, you can easily get your hands on a product known as pycogenol, which is basically a patented name for pine bark extract. It’s also possible for you to come across pine bark extract supplements that contain a few other beneficial plant-based chemicals called flavonoids. For so many years now, indigenous people have relied on pine bark extract for the treatment of various health problems. Today, after over 40 years of scientific investigations done on it, pine bark extract is available in supplement form as well as an added ingredient in numerous health products.
Let us take a look at some of the well-known benefits that pine park extract can offer:
It May Reduce Heart Attack and Stroke Risk
Based on a study done in Germany, pine bark extract is effective in keeping the blood cells from clumping together, warding off the formation of blood clots. You don’t want to have a blood clot coursing through your bloodstream because it may cause a heart attack or stroke once it impedes blood flow to your heart or brain.
It Helps Keep High Blood Pressure Away
Numerous studies conducted just recently showed that pine bark extract helps encourage the production of nitric oxide, which is a type of gas that helps normalize the blood pressure. Nitric oxide works by keeping the walls of the blood vessels relaxed, thus allowing the blood to flow through your veins and arteries more efficiently.
It Protects Your Eye Health and Vision
Especially when combined with bilberry extract, pine bark extract is said to be highly effective in maintaining healthy eyes and sharp vision. That’s because the dynamic duo helps improve blood supply to the retina, experts say. Also, it helps normalize intraocular pressure, thus lowering one’s risk of glaucoma.
It Helps Put an End to Erectile Dysfunction in Men
Based on studies, the intake of pine bark extract is very good at easing erectile dysfunction (ED) that bugs a lot of men. It’s found out by researchers that male participants with ED and took pine bark extract saw considerable improvements in attaining erections than those who were given placebo.
It May Ward Off Prostate Cancer
Here’s one more reason why pine bark extract is beneficial for men: a study have shown that the said supplement helped in controlling the proliferation of cancer cells in the prostate gland. Incredibly, pine bark extract even caused the death of cancer cells by regulating prostate specific antigen linked to prostate cancer formation.
It Reduces Asthma Symptoms in Children and Adults
The intake of pine bark extract, according to experts, helps reduce the symptoms of asthma as well as the need to take drugs for the said condition. Numerous studies have shown that pine bark extract not only helped decrease asthma symptoms in kids and adults, but also considerably boosted pulmonary function.
It Accelerates Healing of the Common Cold
One of the most popular uses of pine bark extract is for the treatment of the common cold. Based on scientific investigations, pine bark extract is very good at boosting the effectiveness of vitamin C in fighting off the said problem. The addition of zinc to the equation is said to make pine bark extract and vitamin C to work much better.
It Reduces Radiation Therapy or Chemotherapy Side Effects
Radiation therapy and chemotherapy attack cancer cells and sometimes the normal cells of the body, too. It’s for this reason why they tend to create all sorts of unfavorable side effects like vomiting, weight loss and diarrhea. Experts say that the intake of pine bark extract is very good at reducing those side effects.
