While protecting one’s muscles is key, ensuring maximum blood flow is reaching them is also extremely important. Proper blood flow is necessary for the dilation of blood vessels and delivering continuous oxygen to muscles, especially during exercise. French maritime pine bark extract consists of a concentrate of water-soluble polyphenols. It contains the bioflavonoids catechin and taxifolin, as well as phenolcarbonic acids. Antioxidants, such as bioflavonoids, enhance endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase expression and subsequent NO release from endothelial cells, which contributes to increased exercise-induced blood perfusion of organs and plays a key role for coordinating vascular response to exercise. A study at Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan orally administered 180 mg/d of French maritime pine bark extract (as Pycnogenol (PYC), from Horphag Research) or a placebo for two weeks to healthy young men.13 PYC, but not the placebo, augmented forearm blood flow (FBF) response to acetylcholine (Ach). SNP-stimulated vasodilation was similar before and after two weeks of treatment in the control and PYC groups. These findings suggest PYC augments endothelium-dependent vasodilation by increasing NO production.
PYC has been reported to have cardiovascular benefits, such as a vasorelaxant activity, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibiting activity, and the ability to enhance the microcirculation by increasing capillary permeability.14 Investigations have demonstrated PYC has strong free radical-scavenging activity against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. PYC can also increase endurance. In a California State University study, 24 recreational athletes received either 200 mg/d of PYC or a placebo for one month in a double blind, crossover design.15 In the first group (n=12), endurance increased by 29.6 percent over the control group; the second group experienced a 13.7 percent increase in endurance over the control group, following 30 days of supplementation. The composite endurance for both groups after supplementation with PYC increased by 21 percent compared to the placebo, and the results of the trial led the scientists to conclude PYC significantly improved endurance compared to the control.
Another supplement that promotes healthy blood is the mineral chromium. Researchers from the Ohio State University Medical Center studied the effects of oral niacin-bound chromium (NBC; as ChromeMate®, from InterHealth Nutraceuticals) supplementation on the subcutaneous fat tissue of obese, diabetic mice.16 They found NBC lowered total cholesterol (TC), TC-to-high density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio, low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, while increasing HDL cholesterol in the blood plasma. Further, an oral glucose tolerance test revealed a significantly improved clearance of blood glucose between one and two hours of glucose challenge in NBC-supplemented mice.
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