A clinical trial of 147 recreational athletes, published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, showed the extract was also effective in improving physical performance and endurance during exercise.
The athletes were divided into two groups for an eight-week trial, where one group was given the pine bark supplement called Pycnogenol.
Boosting endurance
Those receiving the extract finished a two-mile run two minutes faster than at the start of the trial, while also boosting endurance in a two-minute push-up test by 25%.
Pycnogenol works by “mopping up the free radicals”, strengthening blood vessels and working as an anti-inflammatory, said lead researcher Dr Gianni Belcaro.