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The Winning combination of BMA-1
Green Tea (Camellia sinensis)
The green tea leaves used to prepare BM-A1 are harvested from the Sichuan region of China, where traditional Chinese medicine has exploited the beneficial health properties associated with green tea for centuries. Studies have shown that green tea extracts have anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-atherogenic activity.
The extract prepared from the green tea leaves consists primarily of catechins. The catechins found in green tea have demonstrated greater antioxidant protection than vitamins C and E. The most prevalent catechin in green tea is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which has the strongest antioxidant activity of the various catechins.
The beneficial effects on the heart may be related to EGCG’s ability to inhibit the signaling pathway involved in the proliferation of smooth muscle, a factor involved in the pathogenic process of atherosclerosis. EGCG has also been shown to inhibit the oxidation of LDL, also involved in the atherosclerosis process. Green tea catechins may be directly involved in lowering total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels. Antithrombotic effects have also been observed since catechins have been found to inhibit collagen-induced platelet aggregation in animal studies. Green tea extracts have also been shown to increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans, and may be responsible for lowering body weight.
Recently, a very large population study of green tea consumption in Japan concluded that green tea was associated with reduced mortality, with especially notable data for reducing death due to stroke and other cardiovascular disease.1
Ginkgo biloba has also been used medicinally for thousands of years and the chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of the plant’s chemical components have been extensively studied. Ginkgo extract is an approved phytomedicine in Europe and available evidence demonstrates ginkgo's efficacy in the management of a variety of microvascular conditions including intermittent claudication, Alzheimer's/multi-infarct dementia, and "cerebral insufficiency" (a syndrome thought to be secondary to atherosclerotic disease).
The principal chemical components found in extracts of ginkgo leaf consist primarily of flavonol glycosides (e.g., quercetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin) and terpene lactones (ginkgolides A, B, C and bilobalide). According to the German Commission E, these compounds are likely responsible for a wide range of pharmacological effects including improvement of blood flow especially in the microcirculation, increased memory performance and learning capacity, potent antioxidant activity by scavenging toxic oxygen radicals, antagonism of platelet-activating factor (PAF), and neuroprotective effects associated with ginkgolides.
Grapes harvested in the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang province in China provide the seeds for extraction of proanthocyanidins, a class of flavonoids that have particularly potent antioxidant activity. Procyanidin dimers and oligomers are also known as oligomeric procyanidins (OPCs). Studies have shown that proanthocyanidins antioxidant capabilities are 20 times more potent than vitamin C and 50 times more potent than vitamin E. Grape seed proanthocyanidins are especially good at inhibiting oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL).
A recent study in rats showed that the primary effects of grape seed proanthocyanidins related to heart health included lowered levels of plasma triglycerides, free fatty acids, apolipoprotein B, LDL-cholesterol and nonHDL:nonLDL cholesterol levels and slightly increased HDL-cholesterol.2 The study authors concluded that the compounds in grape seed extract contributed to cardioprotection through mechanisms that are independent of their antioxidant properties and resulted in reducing atherosclerotic risk in healthy animals. These mechanisms included alterations in cell membrane receptors, intracellular signaling pathway proteins, and modulation of gene expression.
In cultured human liver cells, these compounds decreased production of apoB100 (a marker of VLDL and LDL in humans) and increased mRNA expression of the LDL receptor gene and 3-hydroxy-3-methylgluteryl CoA (HMG-CoA reductase, a key cholesterol biosynthetic enzyme)3. These results suggest that grape seed proanthocyanidins resemble statins, potent lipid-lowering anti-atherogenic drugs that inhibit HMG-CoA reductase activity. In addition to these anti-atherogenic properties, proanthocyanidins have also been demonstrated to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties as well.
BM-A1 is tested specifically for levels of tea polyphenols, flavones, and proanthocyanidins in order to ensure consistent quality of this product.
1 Shinichi Kuriyama, MD, PhD; Taichi Shimazu, MD; Kaori Ohmori, MD, PhD; Nobutaka Kikuchi, MD; Naoki Nakaya, PhD; Yoshikazu Nishino, MD, PhD; Yoshitaka Tsubono, MD, PhD; Ichiro Tsuji, MD, PhD. Green Tea Consumption and Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and All Causes in Japan, The Ohsaki Study, JAMA. 2006;296:1255-1265.
2 Del Bas JM, Fernandez-Larrea J, Blay M, Ardevol A, Salvado MJ, Arola L, Blade C. Grape seed procyanidins improve atherosclerotic risk index and induce liver CYP7A1 and SHP expression in healthy rats. FASEB J. 2005 Mar;19(3):479-81. Epub 2005 Jan 6.
3 Pal, S., Ho, N., Santos, C., Dubois, P., Mamo, J., Croft, K., and Allister, E. Red wine polyphenolics increase LDL receptor expression and activity and suppress the secretion of ApoB100 from human HepG2 cells. J. Nutr. 2003:133, 700–706.
