When Pycnogenol was introduced a number of years ago, it remained an unknown until a well-known world-wide lecturer on health, nutrition and chiropractic care was doing his daily exercise one day and felt a sharp pain in a leg. He went to the hospital and discovered he had a blood clot in the leg, which could break loose and cause immediate death.

During his recovery one of his doctor friends introduced him to pycnogenol. He used the recommended amount for a few days as instructed and then dropped back to a few milligrams per day. He saw no progress and decided it wasn’t as good as he had been told. Then he read additional research and found that he should use one milligram per one pound of body weight on an ongoing basis and should not cut back on usage. He tried it and in short order was free from pain and medical tests showed no damage.

He wondered if pycnogenol could help his patients and to his surprise, everyone who used it according to the suggested daily usage amount were helped, regardless of their disease – and yes, that included cancer. He documented many of his successes and recorded a cassette tape telling about those successes. Immediately the nutrition companies jumped on it and many illegally copied the doctor’s tape.

Pycnogenol became the rage in the natural nutrition world. But the raw product is expensive and greedy people always take short cuts. Many people developed their own versions using inferior products (which were illegal because pycnogenol is a trademark). But because they were cheaper, they sold (and sell) well. When a company was shut down for selling these imitation products, they just changed their names and went back into business.

Other nutritional companies produced the real product, but without the amount they claimed was in each tablet. Some people did as the doctor who introduced pycnogenol to the United States and did not use the correct protocol. The people who used the cheaper, weaker or imitation brands and those who did not use enough pycnogenol were not helped as promised. They decided that it was and is a scam.

The truth is: Pycnogenol, when used as instructed at one milligram per one pound of body weight, works wonders for most people. The unfortunate few who cannot use it are those who are “allergic” to pine. Since true pycnogenol comes from the Maritime Pine tree in France, people who react to pine cannot use it.

The stories about cancer disappearing, heart problems going away, etc. are true – but only if you use the product according to instructions and use it over a long period of time. It is an OPC which are antioxidants. They are needed for glowing health. Although the company that makes the raw product claims it is as good as the enhanced version, I have to profoundly disagree. An enhanced version saved my life when I was 58. When I tried to use straight pycnogenol, my health turned downhill again. When I went back to my enhanced version, my health improved again. I am now 73 years of age and extremely healthy, use no medications and do not have a “family physician.” Straight pycnogenol works as claimed by its maker, but not as well as my enhanced version.