Lately I have once again been forced to confront the harsh but very realistic truth of spam mail. This time around we have the new wonder superfood to come waltzing in from the furthest corner of the world to save the day. This time around I got two separate ones one for Aronia (Chokeberry) 
and another one for Maqui, though one is a backyard berry found through out the eastern North America. The other was a new one to me and one which, later on after talking to a Mapuche elder, I came to understand a bit more about he berry. Given the mapuche nation has been wild harvesting this berries on both the present Chilean and Argentinean side of the Andes. Given my curious nature as to what it was so interesting about these berries, I did my research time and time again the central; over used and exploited word was antioxidants. Though it has become a household everyday word and essential as these wonderful molecules are. The over exploitation has made of the word practically lack any substance, worst yet is the common pervasive believe that these molecules are only and exclusively found in ¨super¨ berries. I do believe there is a strong psychological component in eating, weather we acknowledge it or not, further more we can even expand to not only eating but any consumption of food or food like products. Nobody will argue that if you don´t eat you will get weak, starve eventually get ill and consequently die. This simple encoded information, with roots it self deep in to our genes for survival. Has exploded in to a complex, elaborated, mind boggling array of theories, presuppositions, believes, and hypotheses from pseudoscientific to the scientific backed ones.
This psychology influences us to the degree as to which we have been educated upon. Be it our parents, teachers, institutions they all take part in shaping our relation with food, our likes and dislikes, going beyond sustenance in certain times before the fast food era. Food was a ritual, one where we socialized in the market place, prayed before our intake of food, connected with family and friends. This psychology has never been put under such strain, leading to much confusion as in the present days. We are told one day fat is your worst enemy, the next decade Ooops! No it wasn´t, then comes the long parade of funny named organic molecules that to save time and your tongues integrity they are given short abbreviations. Things like Same, DHA, NADH, CoQ10, and so forth, one thing is true we are facing complicated times in which the quality of our environment is severely ill and declining. A turn around of events is needed and we must put forth our best effort to make things happen. This change can only happen amidst clarity and transparency, with this in mind and among the severe confusion brought about by personal irresponsibility and corporate negligence. Information and creative driven approach to our lives coupled with common sense take precedence in providing us with the resources to live in balance.
Hereby to provide some information which I found very interesting, is a mouthful of a word protanthocyanidin also known as OPC´s or Pycnogenol™. Though the later one is a trademark name for a proprietary extract from pine bark, for all intent and purpose and in essence we will call it protanthocyanidin. Though this name might not ring a bell, products like Cacao, Green Tea and it´s variations, Açai and probably less known but eventually you will the already mentioned Chokeberry and Maqu
i. As stated previously the claim to fame for these products is their extremely high ORAC (Oxygen radical absorbance capacity) levels, to which among the many antioxidants available in nature protantocyanidin and OPC´s (Oligomeric Protacyanidin) is among the key organic constituents active in the intermediate path interruption of oxidation. To understand a bit more about the nature of this constituent, lets understand the composition a bit for one an alternate name is condensed tannin. Condensed tannin is a non-hydrolysable meaning they are not cleaved by hydrogen particles as those present in water. Previously thought to be anti-nutrients mainly do to their chemistry, which makes them indigestible. A natural protective measure taken by plants against environmental stresses and dangers including being eaten, further more you can´t miss them since they are by the most part the plant flower, fruit and in most cases stem pigments. The hydrolization state lead to the premature conclusion, that if they are non-hydrolysable they are non edible, later to be overturned and believed that to simply divide them depending on their hydrolyzation state and relate that to how they affect health by being consumed was overly simplistic. The real benefit occurred in the variation of tannin being consumed and the amount, it was proposed in the 1930´s that this specific constituents where considered vitamins. Proposed so by French professor Jacques Masquelier, naming his discovery vitamin P though the name was never accepted and neither was it officially accepted as a vitamin. It is a Flavanol a polymeric chain of flavonoids, found all through out the plant kingdom and forming the most abundant form of phenol compounds in the human diet. Some examples commonly known through the commercializing efforts of some companies are Catechins, Quercetins, Rutin, Epicatechins, Kaempferol, EGCG´s etc. Note the difference is protantocyanidin and OPC´s is the a slight variation in chemical structure and predominance, given OPC´s are mainly found in the skin and seeds of main grapes, apples, coconuts and peanuts. By the most part they variations in chemical structure are so minute they are considered one and the same.
It is widely accepted with in the scientific community that it is in fact the flavonoids present in medium to high amount in such products as Red Wine, certain teas (E.g Rooibos, Green), fruits (E.g Açai, Aronia, Cacao) which attribute to their health modulating benefits. In fact they are referred to as ¨natures biological modulating agents¨ due to their strong evidence to modify the body´s response to antigens, anti-nutrients, pathogens and any other counter productive constituents found in our every day, which we are subjected too. However we can´t over look the importance these products have served in the various cultures which they have been part of for millennia’s. The case and probably the most consumed, culturally important and documented product is Red wine.
Since time has been time and the ancients discovered the powers of fermentation in converting sweet grapes in to a tart elixir we now call wine. Which took center stage in the study done on the Mediterranean diets where through a paradox in the eyes of most Americans, of how they consumed high amounts of saturated fat, flours, sweets, yet lived longer and more quality life´s? An insult to those who have strained them selves to limit all these ¨evils¨ out of their every day only to find themselves no less healthier and no less happier. Well the ¨French paradox¨ was coined which market as part of the eating habits the commonality shared amongst all Mediterranean cultures of wine drinking. Studied up close, overlooking pseudo-sciences which the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Georgians, Armenians, and countless other cultures expanding the wide and narrow of this majestic land has attributed to this true elixir. Believing in their own methods the present day Science found the cardio protective properties, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and a wide arrange of other believed and yet to expand on benefits.
In the southern Italian island of Sardinia, a group of longer than average living group was found in the hills of this island. It was studied that an endemic wine they consumed quite copiously was extremely rich in OPC´s and proantocyanidins up to 5 times more than your average wine. Great emphasis was made on the consumption of wine all through out these regions, other long lived communities sprang in ex-soviet Georgia
, Armenia, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, France where wine was an extremely important part of every day life. Not to out do it self on the protantocyanidin and OPC´s later on Resveratrol came to the front line of the whole supplement arsenal against aging and fighting the ailments which wrongly accused, accompany aging. Found in the skins of grapes and other fruits and vegetables, created as a secondary metabolite to counteract the damaging effects of fungus and bacteria. When consumed it is believed though not yet certain, that it benefits mitochondrial functioning as well as increasing several fold the action of SOD2 in the neutralization of Superoxide by reducing to hydrogen peroxide. Superoxide is believed to be an important oxidant intermediate which can lead to serious free radical chain reactions if not kept in check. These are just 2 of many, many other chemical constituents found in just wine, now expand your vision to the wide arrange of just proantocyanidin rich foods is mind boggling. Generally you will be able to recognize them because they are those with those extremely deep hues of color from deep red, yellow, to the purples and almost black. Every where you look there they are, the other day I was very happy to see a billboard which stated ¨EAT COLORS¨
and there you had a wide variety of fruits and veggies looking very robust and healthy. So yeah in essence you are eating colors and those colors serve more than just pure embellishment, when you consume them something will happen. Proanthocyanidin is found to stabilize collagen and elastin, allowing for a prolonged healthy benefit on connective tissue which support organs, joints, blood vessels and muscles.
So we can make a list of potential benefits found in just one product, these was most elegantly exposed by the late Dr. Christopher when he said ¨we eat orange for obtain vitamin C, and Bioflavonoid yet as time comes we will realize it also contained vitamin Z and B20 there is just so much we DON´T know of the magical benefits found in the gifts of nature¨ yet the case I want to make is that of variety and over looking propaganda. Generally we can discover what propaganda is and what a sincere effort to truly benefit you is. Were propaganda is that which primary aim is your wallet and it will utilize whatever means to influence your decision making abilities. Spread your dietary habits to include all the color as possible don´t limit your self to just a couple and also don´t limit your self to one tone of this specific color. You will see that yes violets are in deep violet and roses are in deed red yet they come in so many tones. So eat colors and eat tones, there by you will be supplying your body with a wide arrange of not only these colors which in chemical terms we can name them polyphenols. Of which OPC´s and proantocyanidin are but just one variation, but also you will be making available a wide arrange of vitamins, enzymes, minerals, trace elements, not to mention flavors, textures and over all it will be less likely for you to be bored of the same foods. If you don´t like cooking or are not a fan of veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds as it might seem this article is pointing too. There is always a wide variations of colors and tones all around us though I don´t advise you take a bite off your wall, you do find wide range of colors in animal products and by products; eggs, meats, organs, milk, yogurts, cream, cheese, etc.
The main focus of this article is in using common sense, our natural biological senses and blending these with a bit of cognitive function based on formulating our own personal decision as to what to consume. Among a wide diversity of options, 
some might not be for our benefit and our liking. Though nature does provide us with richly endowed food, surpassing sometimes 100 fold. In comparison with other natural foods, in certain nutrients. Which when studied promote a theory that it can save your life, and in some cases it can yet I make a strong case for isolating information and that information coming from isolated components of a whole. I always make a point to what is considered exotic to us would be no more exotic to those people living in the regions where it comes as an apple would be to us. Yet through researching Protentocyanidin, It was proposed that besides chokeberries, apples the common apple is up to 8 times richer in these constituents, than wine, the higher amounts found in granny smith and red delicious. Guess when they said ¨an apple a day; keep the doctor away¨ they really meant it. I finish this article with the most sound and intelligent words I have herd in a while;
¨The evidence is overwhelming in favor of plants and their positive effect on health, yet is NOT the ingredients in the plant IT´S THE PLANT, it´s not the beta carotene IT´S CARROT!¨
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http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/75/5/894
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