OPC usage

[Metootie]

Anyone ever heard of or used OPC 3 they are distributed through Market America? What kind of response did you have?

[Redwings]

Hi Metootie:
OPC (oligomeric proanthocyanidin) is an anti-oxidant food supplement (not a medication) found in pine bark and grape seeds. It was much more popular for MS 10 or 15 years ago than it is now. (Evening primrose oil and borage oil were much more popular back then, too.) You asked about a specific OPC product, but several supplement makers have an OPC in their product line. For example, Nature's Way calls their product Masquelier's Tru-OPC after Jack Masquelier who reportedly was the first to isolate OPCs from pine bark back in the 1940s. There's a company called Masquelier's that sells and OPC supplement. Other makers sell pine bark and grape seed extracts.

OPC is a fine antioxidant, and one choice for supplementing antioxidants in the diet. The OPC 3 product you asked about isn't any more special than any other OPC, although the marketing for it probably tries to convince you otherwise. For the "branded" products sold through affiliates and multilevel marketing, the sales blurbs frequently describe how the product "helps" all kinds of medical maladies, including MS. But, unless a person's diet is lacking in antioxidants or some other nutritional element, none of the products are "miracles."

If you'd like to take an OPC supplement, the one you asked about may be about the same as any of the others. You could try it, or try one of the other OPC/pine bark/grape seed products that are less expensive because they don't have to support large marketing programs.

I took a couple of different OPC products for a few years back in the last millennium. I didn't have any particular response to them.

[Metootie]

Thank you so much for that info; it is the first info I have received that is neutral from that particular product.