From Healthy Aging to Healthspan

OPCs scavenge free radicals before they attack the fragile architecture of the cellular membrane.
  • Excerpt

If we are to believe articles recently published on the website of Nutraingredients, there's a "paradigm shift from healthy aging to healthspan" going on in the world of food supplements. (i) In a conversation with Nutraingredients' editor-in-chief Stephen Daniells, Nick Morgan of Nutrition Integrated explained that "healthy aging was once the focus for older consumers interested in joint, bone or cardiovascular health products, but an important shift is happening as talk of cellular aging, healthspan and longevity are permeating mainstream discussions." Morgan noted that the ingredients gaining attention in this space are not necessarily new but rather experiencing a renaissance. "We've definitely got some good algae around ... we've got NAC, NMN, resveratrol and some other polyphenols coming through." 

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With all respect due to Nick Morgan's knowledge of the market for "longevity" ingredients and his expertise in the field of sports nutrition, allow me to bring into focus an "other polyphenol" that "came through" in 1948 and that has enjoyed an abundantly healthy life ever since it was first isolated and eventually characterized by French Professor Jack Masquelier as "oligomeric proanthocyanidins" (OPCs). Masquelier's OPCs stood the test of time not only because they enhance vascular health, but more in particular because they effectively fight the main cause of premature aging: free radicals. With regard to OPCs' free radical scavenging effect and their role in decelerating the acceleration of the aging process, Masquelier's pioneering work proved to be groundbreaking. In 1987, Masquelier was even granted a U.S. Patent in which he wrote that OPCs' radical scavenging effect "does not overcome aging, which is a biological process programmed in the genes, but it may prevent, attenuate or inhibit different harmful effects of aging caused by an excess of free radicals. [...] Since the therapeutic effect [of OPCs] is based on the scavenging of the free radicals, any pathology resulting from the direct or indirect action of these free radicals, or else following the temporary or definitive inefficiency of the normal enzymatic defense systems (peroxidase, catalase, superoxide-dismutase etc.) forms an indication for the therapeutic use of [OPCs]." 

This therapeutic framing of the beneficial effects of OPCs in the field of aging still fits what Nick Morgan defines as the "classical imagery" that one would see for the way in which manufacturers of food supplements would "target" individuals who are already aging, notably people in their 60s or 70s. The "paradigm shift" that Daniells and Morgan discussed concerns a new "imagery" that targets a much younger public. "What we're seeing," so Morgan, "is the launch of specialist brands, people who are fundamentally targeting longevity in a more generational way. And when I say generational, it just means that they are newer, fresher. They seem to be presenting themselves to all the cues that you would expect a brand to launch with in 2025. So, you're starting to see that ... the big generalist brands respond to this, particularly [by framing aging in terms of] cellular health. And we've seen that already with some brands launching two or three products with the headlines of cellular health." 

Browsing through his Free Radical Scavenging Patent, it turns out that Masquelier was not just a great inventor and scientist, but also a genuine visionary who not only described the therapeutic effects of his OPCs, but also prepared his extracts for this "paradigm shift" well in advance. Masquelier was "newer", "fresher" and very "generational" three decades before today's "generalist specialists" began to think of repositioning and rebranding anti-aging ingredients as active principles in the field of cellular health. You see, in his 1987 Patent, Masquelier explicitly addressed cellular health in the context of aging and longevity. "Cellular death", so Masquelier, "forms the final step in aging on the cytologic scale [the cellular level]. The free radicals, when they escape from the biological systems provided for eliminating them attack first of all the fragile architecture of the membrane. The alterations thus produced accelerate cellular aging, characerized by the collapse of the primordial functions of the membrane system. lnflammation and ischaemia bring such a mechanism into play and so treatment by [OPCs] is indicated. Similarly, alterations of the synovial liquid by depolymerization of hyaluronic acid during articular diseases as well as collagen degradation during so-called collagen diseases (for instance multiple sclerosis) spring from the action of free radicals and so enter into the therapeutic indications of [OPCs]."

Masquelier's words perfectly suit what Nick Morgan describes as "a subtle but significant shift to more of a framing of longevity and sort of healthspan, which is, well, if you are going to live better and have a higher quality of life towards the end of your life, of course, why not start earlier? Because, ..., that's the best way to adapt to this by approaching positive habits and behaviors earlier, and that's actually targeting people in their 30s, 40s and 50s, as opposed to already targeting people when they're older, when, actually, to be honest, habits are a bit harder to change." Indeed, with cellular health as the standard of measurement in the field of longevity and healthspan, stimulating and maintaining cellular health by taking out free radicals before they can attack the fragile architecture of the cell's membrane seems like a good and positive habit that one should begin to build when still in good shape.

That's precisely why Masquelier described his invention that OPCs scavenge free radicals as providing "a method for preventing and fighting the harmful biological effects of free radicals in the organism of warm blooded animals and more especially human beings, [...]." His method consists in taking an amount of OPCs efficient against said effects. To obtain this radical scavenging effect, Masquelier recommends in his Patent a daily intake of 1.5 to 3 mg of OPCs per kilogram of body weight, which represents for adult persons in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and hopefully beyond ... a daily dosage of 100 to 200 mg of his OPCs to be taken in doses of 50 to 100 mg. Masquelier's Patent expired years ago, but his OPCs and their beneficial effects will live forever since they are highly relevant for current and future generations who seek to live long and healthy lives.

[i] The paradigm shift from healthy aging to healthspan; 08-Jul-2025 by Stephen Daniells.