Artichoke Extract Full Spectrum™

Active Constituents of Artichoke Supplements

Artichoke supplements are strongly antioxidant and also help to reduce your blood LDL cholesterol level by reducing its manufacture in the liver and increasing its excretion. It also possesses hypoglycemic properties, thus reducing the level of blood glucose in diabetics. Artichoke constituents also act as a tonic for the liver, protecting it from damage by toxins, particularly from the effects of excess alcohol.

Among its constituents are the hydroxycinnamic acids chlorogenic acid and cynarin and a powerful flavonoid in the form of luteolin. Each of these is strongly antioxidant and helps to reduce your blood cholesterol. Also present are the antioxidant vitamin C, folic acid and biotin, and the trace elements manganese, chromium and magnesium. Artichoke is also a good source of the B vitamins niacin, riboflavin and thiamin, and also of vitamin A and potassium.

This is a rich mixture of nutritional vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that can be used to give a boost to your overall health, particularly diabetics. It is also a good source of dietary fiber, and helps maintain a healthy heart.

Some Miscellaneous Properties of Artichoke Supplements

Artichoke supplements should be standardized extractions based upon its chlorogenic acid (standardized to 15%) and/or cynarin content (to between 2% and 5%). Chlorogenic acid is a powerful antioxidant, and can help to prevent the deposition of cholesterol on the internal arterial walls while cynarin helps to lower blood cholesterol levels by reducing its synthesis in the liver and promoting its excretion.

If you come across supplements that are not standardized to chlorogenic acid or cynarin, then beware of its effectiveness. Most will be sold as leaf, although in addition to the leaf content it should also state the standardization. These two substances are used because they are believed to be the main active phytochemicals in artichoke.

Incidentally, the type of artichoke used in the globe artichoke. The Jerusalem artichoke is not a true artichoke, and while it too has certain health benefits, these are different to those offered by the true globe artichoke.

Artichoke Extract Full Spectrum™

Artichoke leaves, or artichoke extract, protects your liver against alcohol and many other of the toxins that can harm it. It also helps to maintain a good flow of bile and leads to a healthy digestive system. The phytochemicals contained in artichoke leaves can reduce levels of the 'bad' LDL cholesterol and increase levels of 'good' HDL cholesterol. This helps to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system and avoid heart disease.

Many people find artichoke leaves to help reduce the effects of a hangover, so not only does it prevent the longer-term liver damage caused by excess alcohol consumption, but also the short-term effects that make you promise never to drink again! Some studies are also finding that artichoke leave extract can cause the death of cancerous cells, with particular success with breast cancer.

Overall, artichoke leaves and artichoke extract is a good supplement to take to help avoid heart and digestion problems, with the added benefit of possible avoidance of certain types of cancer - although more trials are needed before this can be definitely claimed.

Artichoke supplements are available as extracts or leaves, and have been proved by many trials to offer benefits to your liver. One the major of these benefits is to offer protection against many of the toxic substances that are known to cause liver damage, some mild but others severe, such as alcohol. Artichoke supplements can even help to restore your liver function can be improved after excessive drinking or drug-taking.

The components of artichoke extract believed to be responsible for these benefits include the antioxidants cynarin and silymarin, and it is believed that can help regenerate damaged liver tissue. This is yet another instance of science proving the truth of the traditional use of artichoke leaves for liver conditions. Artichoke has been used for centuries in alternative and folk medicine to deal with problems now known to be attributable to the liver.

According to some sources, such as the USDA, artichoke possesses a larger number of powerful antioxidants than any other type of vegetable. Quercetin alone is extremely powerful in destroying free radicals and helping you to maintain good heart health, while other such as silymarin and cynarin help promote good liver health. Other antioxidants containing in an extract of artichoke leaves include luteolin and the powerful anthocyanins.

In addition to helping protect your cardiovascular system from the dangerous form of blockage known as atherosclerosis, these substances also assist in maintaining a healthy digestive system. Cynarin, for example, promotes a healthy supply of bile. Artichoke also lowers the levels of LDL cholesterol in your blood by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase responsible for producing it. The antioxidant properties of artichoke leaves offer a wide range of health benefits, and an artichoke leaf extract is an excellent maintenance supplement to take for the benefits of your liver and cardiovascular system.

An extract of artichoke leaves is very effective in reducing the levels of cholesterol in your blood. You need a certain amount of cholesterol because it is a raw material used in the biosynthesis of sex hormones such as testosterone. It is also used as a repair material for minor damage to your arteries, although an excessive amount can be dangerous. The main danger is free radical oxidation of the low density lipoproteins needed to carry cholesterol around your bloodstream - a form known as LDL cholesterol.

The form that cholesterol takes when excess is returned to your liver for metabolism is known as HDL cholesterol, carried by high density lipoproteins that are not so easily oxidized. The enzyme HMG-CoA reductase controls the rate at which cholesterol is produced and catabolized in the liver, promoting its production and reducing its degradation, and by suppressing the activity of this enzyme, artichoke leaves effective increase the catabolization of plasma LDL cholesterol, and reduce its concentration in your blood.

The Effect of Artichoke on Cholesterol Levels

Unlike the Jerusalem artichoke, the Globe artichoke is a true artichoke that all the hullabaloo is about with regard to your health. The Jerusalem artichoke is not an artichoke at all, but a member of the sunflower family, and will not be considered here. The globe artichoke contains cholerotic substances that reduces the biosynthesis of cholesterol in the liver and increases its secretion, and hence reduces the LDL cholesterol content of your blood.

The substances responsible for this are said to be chlorogenic acid, cynarin and luteolin. Cynarin and chlorogenic acid are hydroxycinnamic acids, possessing strong antioxidant properties, and luteolin is a flavonoid that is also antioxidant and possesses hypoglycemic properties. Each of these can help reduce cholesterol levels and improve the health of your heart as well as exerting a strong antioxidant effect on free radicals.

A Brief History of Artichokes

Artichokes offer a very powerful protection of the liver against the effects of various toxins such as alcohol, and also help to maintain low blood cholesterol levels by suppressing its synthesis in the liver to a healthy amount and promoting its excretion. An artichoke supplement offers many more health benefits than just these, and also possesses powerful antioxidant effects and helps maintain a healthy cardiovascular system.

The globe artichoke is believed to have originated in Ethiopia, and was used to aid the digestion in ancient Greece and Rome. It was not a common vegetable over two to three thousand years ago, and was generally available only to those rich enough to afford it. Artichoke first came to the USA with the Spanish and French explorers and settlers, and the vast majority of America's artichokes are now grown in California: Castroville to be precise!