Evidence: High Possible Benefits: High Safety: High
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is Pycnogenol?
Pycnogenol is a patented pine bark extract standardized for 65-75% procyanidins. It is often used as a dietary supplement for its wide variety of benefits on cognition and general health. This article is about the main benefits of Pycnogenol, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.
Possible benefits
All of the potential benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. As with most other supplements, there is a sweet-spot dose that allows you to get most of the benefits without causing meaningful side effects or tolerance buildup in the body. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.
Major benefits
Improved blood flow – Pine bark extract can greatly increase nitric oxide levels and improve blood flow in both healthy and unhealthy people.
Reduced symptoms of osteoarthritis – Early research suggests pine bark extract can be very effective for reducing symptoms of osteoarthritis. Pycnogenol may reduce pain and other symptoms by up to 50% when taken regularly for 90 days.
Improved cognition – An improvement in attention and other aspects of cognition was found in students during academic testing. These students also experienced greater well-being when taking the supplement.
Minor benefits
Improved skin quality – Oral supplementation can improve skin elasticity and quality. This effect was only studied in older women so far but it may apply to other groups of people as well.
Improved cholesterol levels – Pycnogenol can slightly reduce LDL and increase HDL cholesterol levels. An increase in HDL appears unreliable and doesn’t apply to everyone. The reduction of LDL is more reliable but LDL levels typically go back to normal when people stop taking the supplement.
Reduced leg swelling – The supplement can greatly reduce leg swelling and other symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency. This benefit is secondary to the increase in blood flow.
Reduced blood pressure – A small reduction is found in some but not all hypertensives.
Antioxidant properties – The supplement has antioxidant properties and can reduce damage caused by free radicals and oxidative stress.
Reduced asthma – A small improvement in asthmatic symptoms was found in at least two human studies.
Reduced symptoms of menopause – Some symptoms of menopause are slightly lowered when menopausal women take Pycnogenol.
Possible side effects
The side effects below are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.
Allergic reaction – An allergy to this supplement is rare but possible.
Nausea – This side effect is most common when people take the supplement on an empty stomach.
Diarrhea – You can usually prevent diarrhea or stomach discomfort by taking this supplement with a meal.
Toxicity – While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking high amounts of this supplement could lead to chronic toxicity and cause health problems over time. Regularly taking high doses can also cause the body to develop a tolerance to the supplement. To prevent chronic toxicity or the buildup of tolerance, staying below 200 mg in a day is best unless you have a great reason to take more.
Contamination – Contaminated supplements are uncommon in the USA and other well-regulated countries. However, if you wish to buy products from China, India, or other countries without strict regulations, beware that the supplements may be contaminated. Either way, you need to choose the brand you order from wisely. Always read through some reviews for the specific product before you buy it. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has the power to regulate dietary supplements but can only do so after they have been on the market for a while. That’s because supplement companies are not obligated to announce to the FDA when releasing a new product. The FDA has to discover the product and test it for potential impurities, which can take a lot of time. During that time, the supplement can be sold on the market even if it’s impure. Also, supplement companies can change their manufacturers without announcing it to the FDA.
Who should not take Pycnogenol?
You should probably avoid taking Pycnogenol if you:
are allergic to this supplement
experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the supplement
are pregnant or breastfeeding (while it can be safe to take this supplement during pregnancy or breastfeeding, it can put some unnecessary risk to the child)
Who will benefit the most?
You should consider taking the supplement if you:
experience problems related to poor blood flow, such as leg swelling
wish to improve cognition
are hypertensive
have osteoarthritis
are asthmatic
have a high budget for supplements and are willing to experiment with a variety of them (assuming you don’t fall into any of the categories that should avoid this supplement, Pycnogenol appears relatively safe and is unlikely to do more harm than good for most people)
How much Pycnogenol should you take?
The sweet spot dose typically ranges between 40-100 mg daily for most people. This amount should provide most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.
The higher end of this range usually provides slightly more benefits in the short term. If you plan to take this supplement for a longer time (multiple months or years), the lower end is probably a better way to go since it is safer, and you would develop tolerance faster if you were to take higher doses.
The upper safety limit for this supplement is not well-established. To stay on the safe side, don’t take more than the recommended dose unless you have a great reason to do so. Higher amounts may cause problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.
Like most other supplements, it is best to cycle Pycnogenol and take about two days off weekly to reset your tolerance. That will allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.
Best time to take Pycnogenol
Pycnogenol is water-soluble, so you don’t have to take it with food to absorb it well.
Whether you take the supplement in the morning or the evening does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.
Where to buy Pycnogenol?
In most countries, Amazon is the best option for ordering Pycnogenol and pine bark supplements. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the Internet.
Some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.
FAQ
Like most other supplements, it is best to cycle Pycnogenol and take a break from it for about two days per week to reset your tolerance back to baseline. That will keep your body sensitive to the supplement and allow you to keep getting the benefits in the long term.
All of these options are fine. The two most important things to consider are the price and dosing. Powders are almost always the cheapest form. However, you may need a highly accurate scale to dose them correctly (preferably 0.001g). You can get one for as little as $20 from Amazon. Dosing the powders also takes time which can add up over months or years. The disadvantage of capsules is that they are often made of bovine gelatine, which rarely comes from ethical sources.
Yes. Whether you take the supplement in the morning or the evening does not make much difference. Both options are fine so feel free to experiment.
This supplement should not become harmful once it exceeds the expiration date. However, it can lose potency over time. Keep this supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place so it remains as potent for many months or even years.
While acute toxicity is rare, taking very high amounts of this supplement could lead to various problems over time. High doses can also make you develop tolerance much faster than lower doses.
While you could safely take higher doses, there is usually no point in taking more than 200 mg daily. This amount should give you most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.
The half-life of Pycnogenol in the body is about 4-6 hours. This supplement gets metabolized within a day after you consume it. However, most of the effects of this supplement are cumulative, so they mainly happen in the long term rather than acutely. Therefore, the half-life of this supplement isn’t very relevant in practice.
In the long term, you must take the supplement for about 2-4 weeks to begin noticing most of the benefits.
Yes, Pycnogenol is vegan-friendly. If you buy the supplement in a capsulated form, beware that the capsules often contain animal-based gelatin. Instead, find a brand that puts its products into cellulose capsules.
No, it does not. The supplement should not interfere with fasting in any significant way. However, you still want to take the supplement with food as it will absorb better.
References
Most of the information in this guide is based on scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything you read in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.
