Pycnogenol

Preserves strength in seniors

Pycnogenol, a French Maritime pine bark extract, improved strength and muscle mass in adults ranging in age from 70 to 78 in an Italian study published in Minerva Ortopedica e Traumatologica this past September. Participants took either 150 mg of Pycnogenol daily or a placebo. Over a two-month period, those taking Pycnogenol showed greater improvement in tests of hand grip, weight lifts, walking distance without pain, stair climbing, and time before feeling tired compared to the control group. Researchers concluded that “Pycnogenol supplementation appears to be effective in improving strength and muscular activity, and possibly in controlling muscular loss, in older, otherwise healthy subjects.”