December 14, 2003 – German and Chinese researchers argue that pycnogenol – or extracted from maritime pine bark – has beneficial effects against type II diabetes, including significantly lowering blood sugar levels.
For the purposes of their study1, the researchers randomly divided 77 people with diabetes into two groups. For 12 weeks, participants in one group took 100 mg of pycnogenol per day, the others took a placebo.
Pycnogenol reduced the blood glucose (sugar) level of the treated persons by 1.96 mmol / L compared to 1.11 mmol / L for the placebo group. This significant difference appeared from the tenth week of treatment.
Scientists have also observed a decrease in blood levels of a protein – endothelin-1 – with vasoconstrictor effects. Endothelin-1 was significantly reduced in patients taking pycnogenol compared to those taking placebo. To date, this protein has been the subject of hundreds of studies because it is an important contributor to high blood pressure and heart failure as well as cerebrovascular disease which are among the possible complications of diabetes.
Standardized Maritime Pine Bark Extract is marketed in the United States under the name Pycnogenol®. This term refers to the components present in this substance which have already been studied in the past for their beneficial effects on people with diabetes.
For example, the results of a clinical trial conducted on 40 subjects in 2001 showed that pine extract could slow down the process of retinopathy (deterioration of vision), a disease often associated with diabetes. .
Marie france Coutu – PasseportSanté.net
1. Liu X, Wei J, Tan F, Zhou S, Wurthwein G, Rohdewald P, Antidiabetic effect of Pycnogenol French maritime pine bark extract in patients with diabetes type II, Life Sciences, October 8, 2004, Vol. 75, No 21, 2505-13.
