Proanthocyanidins as an addition to a healthy planty diet.

[Alchemica]

As some may know, I'm a polyphenol fiend. I've been looking at good ways to keep those polyphenols at high levels. Everything from frequent cacao/blueberries, a bit of Lotus root as a veggie, to a bit of true cinnamon to grape seed. I find the variety keeps things good and keeps up with my need for novelty. Haven't tried pine bark yet

Lately, I've been trying to live off the land a bit, gather my own food rather than buy it.

 

Some of my largely living off the land (via community garden and ethical means) harvests:

 

That said, finding solid polyphenol doses isn't always easy, sometimes a cheap supplement is useful.

 

Over the other polyphenols, not neglecting my daily anthocyanins, proanthocyanidin rich sources from food more might be promising. Trying to incorporate a diverse range of polyphenols into my diet. Things like dietary diversity score correlate strongly with depression.

 

Proanthocyanidin rich sources have been described as possessing central nervous system effects and have traditionally been used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat disorders of the mind

 

Foods with the highest proanthocyanidin content are cinnamon (8,000mg/100 g of fresh weight (FW)) grape seeds (Vitis vinifera) are another rich source, with a content of about 3,500 mg/100 g dry weight. Proanthocyanidins accumulate to levels of approximately 10% total dry weight of cacao seeds. Consumption of grape seed extract, a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger, enhances the plasticity of hippocampus in middle-aged mice. It modulates the CNS function and has beneficial effects on the direct and indirect striato-thalamo-cortical pathways

 

Along with Pine Bark, Lotus root, the edible rhizome of Nelumbo nucifera, contains high levels of polyphenolic compounds. (+)-catechin, gallocatechin or epigallocatechin, quercetin glycoside, quercetin glucuronide, procyanidin dimers, proanthocyanidin dimer gallate, prodelphinidin dimers, procyanidin trimers, etc. Lotus root effectively attenuated cognitive damage and improved parameters related to brain aging in senescent mice. It was able to stimulate antioxidant enzyme activity and improve cholinergic deficits.

 

One small randomised trial in ADHD suggests, despite various limitations, therapeutic benefit from herbal, polyphenol-rich extracts, particularly proanthocyanidins. Attention and concentration (as measured by tests before and after the experiment) improved just as much with a daily regimen of pine bark-derived OPCs as with traditional ADHD stimulant medications. Additionally, the subjects reported experiencing better sleep and improved mood while taking the OPC supplement, corroborating centuries’ worth of accumulated evidence from traditional systems of medicine that OPCs positively affect brain function. Pycnogenol, improved focus, decreased emotional volatility, and elevated mood. A study tested Pycnogenol on the cognitive abilities and emotional status of 53 healthy students aged 18–27. The students were tested before and after a regimen of Pycnogenol (100 mg/day) on measures of attention, memory, alertness, executive functioning, and mood, and showed significant improvements across-the-board after eight weeks of Pycnogenol supplementation. That said, while they're better options than psychostimulants, current evidence to support their use clinically is limited.

Edited February 26, 2018 by Alchemica

[LikeAshesWeFade]

Absolutely looove your posts brother!! Proanthocyanidins have also got some major anticancer properties and appear to be getting more 'promising' attention thesedays within the field of research, in regards to their potential for treating multiple types of cancers. That is also a DAMN fine harvest you've got there dude haha, living entirely off the land is a goal I am also aiming to achieve by the end of the year!

[Alchemica]

Thanks for sharing @LikeAshesWeFade Good luck with the living off the land, nice one.

I'll share here 

Reduced mortality risk by a polyphenol-rich diet: An analysis from the Moli-sani study.

 

High polyphenol and healing phytochemical intake is for me not just the best way to manage my mental health. The polyphenol content of the diet was, in a recent analysis, associated with reduced mortality risk:

 

"Participants included in the highest quintile of intake of various polyphenol classes and subclasses presented a significant lower all-cause mortality risk compared with those in the lowest group of consumption

 

...the present results together with the recent literature, extend the role of dietary polyphenols from natural compounds potentially active on disease prevention to important nutrients for the reduction of mortality risk in a general population."

 

http://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/j.nut.2017.11.012

 

For me, I find that rather than supplement with a single source or supplement, getting it through dietary diversity is much more effective, you get spectrums of nutrition and phytochemicals.

 

At present, my main polyphenol sources are, trying to keep cheap and diverse, frozen blueberries, hibiscus, grape seed and dark community garden grapes, cinnamon, occasional turmeric, cacao, tea diversity etc. Top it up with other good polyphenol foods, peels etc. Get high on greens, the rainbow of veggies, get the other phytochemical classes...

 

These are extremely promising compounds for healing everything from inflammatory conditions, metabolic disturbances, promoting healthy aging to treating mood/CNS things, to neurodegenerative diseases

 

Dietary diversity scores correlate strongly with depression. There also seems to be synergistic relationships using a diverse range of polyphenols, emerging evidence suggests different classes of polyphenols act synergistically.

 

Current research indicates things like blueberry anthocyanins are clinically effective for cognitive deterioration in aging, if you exploit the synergies, go plant-based diets rich in diverse polyphenols and phytochemicals, it might be really effective.

 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Alchemica