See article by cardiologist Joel Kahn MD to prevent and or reverse CAD with simple combination of gotu kola with pine bark extract . Scroll to page 37:
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Iāve been following that research with pycnogenol and gotu kola except for the 2020 study, so itās nice to see the evidence keeps building. Itās the main reason grape seed extract is a staple of my supplement regimen and goes to show how important lowering inflammation is for vascular protection in addition to lipid control. Iāll probably re-add gotu kola now, which I took for a while but then stopped as part of my efforts to trim down my supplement stack.
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Yes. And pine bark also significantly increases endothelial nitric oxide levels and gotu kola stabilizes plaque making it less likely to rupture.
Gotu kola, also known as Centella Asiatica, is a potent telomere maintenance supplement as well.
Im going to add back grape seed extract, thanks for reminding me.
I havenāt listened to this yet but it looks interesting. This company is an SF-bay area based longevity biotech company:
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Are you planning to take both pine bark and grape seed, or just one or the other? I take grape seed extract instead of pycnogenol because itās so much more bang for the buck, even the organic GSE I use. I havenāt seen anything convincing that pycnogenol is superior to GSE mg-for-mg, have you?
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The studies are done with pine bark so thatās my preference. Iāll take grape seed separately.
The pine bark/ gotu kola had a pronounced effect on my stamina, both physical and sexual. Incredible actually.
I also checked my telomere length at Harvardās lab and at 62 it was that of a 24 year old. Could be the gotu kola.
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Pretty amazing! Would you mind sharing which brand of gotu kola you use? And do you take Pycnogenol or generic pine bark extract? Thanks!
Yes. So Iāve settled on bulk supplements pine bark extract powder. I use 1/4 of a tsp per day which is a hefty 500 mgās or so. You could probably get away with 1/8 tsp and it would last you forever. Put it in coffee or something- bitter.
Natureās Answer is my gotu kola brand because Iām certain that itās actually Centella Asiatica. I take 425 mgās per day. Iām afraid to exceed that because I donāt want to overdo the telomerase effect.
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Its interestingā¦ I subscribe to ConsumerLab.com (which I highly recommend - its only $50/year or so) and their reviews of bulk supplements products seem to suggest a lot of variety in their products. It doesnāt seem like they have the quality control processes in place that I would want and expect from a vendor.
Here are some examples:
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Thanks, thatās really good information.
Might have to search around for another source.
David, I checked out Amla extract. Remarkably effective. The studies are impressive and Iāve been taking it for a while as triphala, but itās only 1 of 3 ingredients.
Iām going to add it as something separate to go along with pine bark and Centella.
I want to keep my coronary calcium score at zero.
Hereās an interesting story.
My associate is a Harvard trained internist and he tried high dose K2 as MK- 4 to lower his CAC score.
It not only worked dramatically, calcium started falling into his Mouth from dental plaques. I kid you not.
MK-7 had no effect.
We were able to replicate the effect on several patients.
I wish I could say the same for my experience w/MK-4. I actually had the opposite effect. I took it for several years starting in 2008 (15 mg BID) expecting my coronary calcium to reverse, only to be shocked that it increased over that period of time (I even went back to the same hospital and had the scan done on presumably the same machine). Iāve had high hopes for MK-7, but it looks like that may be a bust for calcification too, at least when it comes to valvular calcification. I was only using rosuvastatin at the time (which we know can increase calcification over time to some extent), no longer taking statins, only PCSK9+ezetimibe+supplements.
The thing that got my attention w/amla is a study that showed it lowered Lp(a) pretty significantly (one of the only supplements to lower it significantly), and along with Repatha has almost dropped mine down to lower-risk category. I take the āTrue Caprosā patented extract BID, which has been used in a few of the published studies.
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Also btw, I do wonder/worry to some extent about the potential downside of reversing coronary calcium, especially reversing it quickly. Might we be converting a stable calcified plaque into a soft/unstable one?
Got it thanks . Iām impressed with true capros and the studies. Good mix with the pine bark and Centella.
Maybe. These things are hard to know for sure. I think itās safest just keeping the score at zero. Soft plaque rupture is certainly an issue. Very complicated.
Still another reason to stick to major proven brands. Trying to save money by buying bargain supplements is a dangerous game.
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Yes, except the bulk supplements product of pine bark worked extremely well. When I first started taking it some years back I was beginning to have some mild ED. This often progresses and is an early indicator of the beginnings of atherosclerosis.
In fact, it often precedes CVD by about 3 years. Not a laughing matter.
The pine bark completely resolved the issue and has done so until this day. I would say like a 40 year old , or even better.
It has a marked effect on nitric oxide and endothelial function.
So I hesitate to switch brands for that very reason.
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Agreed! ConsumerLab is awesome, not just for the product ingredients checks but for the updated news and research reviews on all things related to nutritional supplements. Theyāre extremely objective and post news on just as many negative studies as they do positive ones (maybe even more, in fact).
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If it works that well, it might be spiked with sildenafil!
