Wizard of Vitamins

Proanthocyanidins Vitamin

What is Proanthocyanidins?

Proanthocyanidins also called "OPCs" for oligomeric procyanidins or "PCOs" for procyanidolic oligomers are a class of nutrients belonging to the flavonoid family.

Proanthocyanidins in Diets

Proanthocyanidins can be found in many plants, most notably pine bark, grape seed, and grape skin. However, bilberry, cranberry, black currant, green tea, black tea, and other plants also contain these flavonoids. Nutritional supplements containing proanthocyanidins extracts from various plant sources are available, alone or in combination with other nutrients, in herbal extracts, capsules, and tablets.

Proanthocyanidins Medicinal Treatments

Chronic venous insufficiency Capillary fragility Retinopathy Sunburn Pancreatic insufficiency Varicose Veins

Known Consequences of Proanthocyanidins Deficiency

Flavonoids and proanthocyanidins are not classified as essential nutrients because their absence does not induce a deficiency state. However, proanthocyanidins may have many health benefits, and anyone not eating the various plants that contain them would not derive these benefits.

Proanthocyanidins Recommended Dosages

Flavonoids (proanthocyanidins and others) are a significant source of antioxidants in the average diet. Proanthocyanidins at 50–100 mg per day is considered a reasonable supplemental level by some doctors, but optimal levels remain unknown.

Proanthocyanidins Side Effects

Flavonoids, in general, and proanthocyanidins, specifically, have not been associated with any consistent side effects. As they are water-soluble nutrients, excess intake is simply excreted in the urine. At the time of writing, there were no well-known drug interactions with Proanthocyanidins.