Striving4Zen

Pycnogenol is a natural plant extract originating from the bark if maritime pine trees, which grow exclusively along the unspoiled coast of southwestern France. The pine trees from which Pycnogenol is produced are grown entirely without pesticides, and no toxic solvents are used during its production. These trees are ideal botanical sources, as the extracted components are not subject to the seasonal variations that most other plants would have been. This enables the supplier to have a high batch-to batch consistency in its Pycnogenol.

Pycnogenol contains a unique combination of procyanidins , bioflavonoids, and organic acids, which offer entensive natural benefits.

Pycnogenol had four basic properties:

• It’s a powerful antioxidant
• It acts as a natural anti-inflammatory
• It selectively binds to collagen and elastin
• It aids in the production of endothelial nitric oxide, which helps vasodilate (expand) blood vessels

Source

Labels: anti-inflammatory, Anti-oxidant, pycnogenol, supplements

Go ahead. Sink your teeth into a delectable chocolate-fudge brownie. Plunge into a cool stream on a hot day. Pamper yourself with a long, sensuous massage. All three experiences promise one fantastic payoff – instant gratification. A surge of pleasure and satisfaction floods your senses seconds after you indulge yourself.

You can give your skin the same kind of quick satisfaction. In just about the time it takes you to finish a sinful dessert, DMAE complex can provide a visible and gratifying improvement. If you’ve shied away from so-called treatments because the very word conjures up visions of spending days carefully applying this and dipping in that until you finally see results, DMAE will change your mind. It’s quick, it’s easy and it works.

DMAE is a great little acronym that’s easier to say than the tongue twister dimethylaminoethanol. Mixed in a cocktail with other nutrients, combined with an antioxidant base, applied topically, DMAE can quickly and dramatically improve the appearance of sagging skin. An added bonus, DMAE boosts the effects of other antioxidants, resulting in increased smoothness, brightness and line reduction.

What, exactly, is DMAE? Unlike the antioxidants I’ve discussed before, DMAE is an antioxidant membrane stabilizer. Because of its unique structure, DMAE actually intersperses and becomes part of the cell plasma membrane. When this occurs, the membrane is more able to resist stress and therefore is stabilized. DMAE also gives some protection from free radicals – probably by preventing the other portions of the cell membrane from being attacked by free radicals – and therefore can act as an antioxidant. Thus, DMAE is an antioxidant membrane stabilizer. It prevents breakdown of the cell plasma membrane and the resulting production of arachidonic acid and a bunch of pro-inflammatory mediators. When mixed with other amino acids and nutrients, it has a dramatic firming effect on skin.

dR. pERRICONE

Labels: Anti-oxidant, DMAE, skin, skin care

ScienceDaily (Dec. 6, 2009) — Getting the correct balance of proteins in our diet may be more important for healthy ageing than reducing calories, new research funded by the Wellcome Trust and Research into Ageing suggests.

The research may help explain why 'dietary restriction' (also known as calorie restriction) -- reducing food intake whilst maintaining sufficient quantities of vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients -- appears to have health benefits. In many organisms, such as the fruit fly (drosophila), mice, rats and the Rhesus monkey, these benefits include living longer. Evidence suggests that dietary restriction can have health benefits for humans, too, though it is unclear whether it can increase longevity.

Dietary restriction can have a potentially negative side effect, however: diminished fertility. For example, the female fruit fly reproduces less frequently on a low calorie diet and its litter size is reduced, though its reproductive span lasts longer. This is believed to be an evolutionary trait: in times of famine, essential nutrients are diverted away from reproduction and towards survival.

In fact, when the researchers studied the effect further, they found that levels of a particular amino acid known as methionine were crucial to maximising lifespan without decreasing fertility. Adding methionine to a low calorie diet boosted fertility without reducing lifespan; likewise, reducing methionine content in a high calorie diet prolonged lifespan. Previous studies have also shown that reducing the intake of methionine in rodents can help extend lifespan.

"By carefully manipulating the balance of amino acids in the diet, we have been able to maximise both lifespan and fertility," explains Dr Matthew Piper, one of the study authors. "This indicates that it is possible to extend lifespan without wholesale dietary restriction and without the unfortunate consequence of lowering reproductive capacity."

Amino acids are the building blocks of life as they form the basis of proteins. Methionine is one of the most important amino acids at it is essential to the formation of all proteins. Whilst proteins are formed naturally in the body, we also consume proteins from many different food types, including meat and dairy products, soy-derived food such as tofu, and pulses. The relative abundance of methionine differs depending on the food type in question; it occurs in naturally high levels in foods such as sesame seeds, Brazil nuts, wheat germ, fish and meats.

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Labels: complete protein, fertility, fish, meat, Nuts, wheat germ