Pine bark extract
An antioxidant extract from pine bark, taken mostly for circulation and blood pressure.
- Blood pressure and circulation
- Skin
- Cholesterol and blood sugar
- Menopausal symptoms
- Exercise and training
A plain-English overview, not advice. Written from published reviews and trials and from what people say in public forums.
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On this page
What is pine bark extract?
Pine bark extract is made from the bark of pine trees, above all the French maritime pine that grows along the Atlantic coast of south-west France, though other pine species are used too. The bark is rich in a family of antioxidant plant compounds called proanthocyanidins, which is what the extract is concentrated for and what labels put a percentage against. It has a long history in traditional use, and today’s supplements are sold as capsules, either standardised to a set level of these compounds or left unstandardised, popular on the strength of that antioxidant profile which researchers have tested against a wide range of everyday complaints.
Why do people take pine bark extract?
Blood pressure and circulation
The thinking. Circulation is where most of the research on pine bark extract sits, and it is taken both for general blood pressure and for the heavier, aching legs of poor venous circulation. The idea is that its antioxidant plant compounds act on the lining of blood vessels, helping them widen and narrow normally, and support the vein walls involved in conditions like leg swelling and varicose veins.
What research has found. The two largest reviews of blood pressure disagree: one, pooling twelve trials, found both the upper and lower reading down slightly; another, pooling seven, found no clear change in either. Smaller trials have found blood vessels widening more easily in people with heart disease, and one trial in people with leg ulcers linked to poor circulation found pycnogenol worked about as well as an existing oral option. Studies here point in different directions, so this one is still being worked out; the dose, how long people took it and who took part all seem to matter.
Skin
The thinking. Skin is a newer reason people take pine bark extract, arising from the same antioxidant thinking as the rest of the research: if these compounds protect cells from oxidative damage, skin exposed to sun and pollution might show it. It has been tested for facial pigmentation, for general skin ageing from sun exposure, and for the skin of people working outdoors in polluted air.
What research has found. All three small trials found a difference in favour of the extract. One found less facial pigmentation when it was taken alongside a standard skin cream and sunscreen used by both groups, one found better skin hydration and elasticity in outdoor workers exposed to pollution, and one found less visible sun damage after twelve weeks of daily use. Research here is still young: a few studies so far, mostly pointing the same way.
Cholesterol and blood sugar
The thinking. Pine bark extract also turns up in routines aimed at general heart and metabolic health, often alongside the same circulation thinking. Reviews of its make-up group cholesterol, blood sugar and body weight together as the things its antioxidant compounds appear to act on.
What research has found. The two largest pooled reviews, each with well over a thousand participants, agree that blood sugar, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol were all lower on average with the extract, and one also found HDL cholesterol higher. Two smaller reviews looking only at blood fats disagree: one found HDL cholesterol raised and nothing else changed, the other found no significant change in any blood fat measured. The studies disagree, so this is unsettled: dose, duration and who took part all seem to shift the result.
Menopausal symptoms
The thinking. Hot flushes, poor sleep and low mood around menopause send many women looking for something to take, and pine bark extract is one of the options tried, again on the strength of its general antioxidant reputation rather than anything hormonal. The idea draws on the same circulation thinking as the rest of the research, since some menopausal symptoms are linked to changes in blood vessels.
What research has found. One trial gave 170 perimenopausal women a low daily dose or a placebo for three months. Symptom scores fell significantly more with the extract than with placebo by four weeks, particularly hot flushes and sleep, though a sizeable placebo response was also seen in the same trial. Few studies have measured this yet, so there is little to go on either way.
Exercise and training
The thinking. Pine bark extract is also taken around exercise and physical training, an application named in the wider research overview alongside its other studied uses. The thinking follows the same antioxidant and circulation ideas as the rest of the page: intense exercise increases oxidative stress in the body, and compounds that support how easily blood vessels widen are thought by some to help blood flow to working muscles.
What research has found. No trial in people has measured this, so there is nothing to report either way yet.
What does pine bark extract do in the body?
Pine bark’s main active compounds are proanthocyanidins, an antioxidant family that makes up much of what the bark is concentrated for. Once absorbed, they are thought to work in two ways: taking up reactive molecules before these can damage fats and cell structures, and acting on the cells lining blood vessels, which is the route by which a capsule might change how easily an artery widens or narrows.
Not all of the extract is absorbed as it is swallowed. The larger compounds travel to the gut, where bacteria break them into smaller metabolites that are then taken up into the bloodstream; these have been detected in blood cells, saliva and joint fluid within about six hours of a dose, remaining detectable for at least fourteen hours, before being cleared mainly through the kidneys. Researchers are still working out which compounds, or which gut-made metabolites, account for which effects.
What do people say about taking pine bark extract?
These are anecdotes people have shared, not evidence.
What people like
- Across these four threads only a handful of people described taking it themselves; most posts are questions rather than reports.
- Two posters credited it, taken as part of a wider stack of vitamins, with a clear improvement in a partner’s fertility test results within months.
- One long-term user, taking it for circulation, described the effect as gradual rather than immediate, still noticeable after many years of use.
- One poster described a marked improvement in heavy periods, though gave no detail, and nobody else in that thread said they had tried it.
Common complaints
- None of the four threads reported a side effect or a reason for stopping.
- Cost came up more than once: posters taking it for fertility called it expensive, though felt the results were worth the price.
- One poster warned about counterfeit or diluted products from third-party online marketplace sellers, suggesting a pharmacy or a well-known health shop instead.
How people take it
- Doses mentioned were around 100 mg a day, with one long-term user saying they took it only now and then rather than daily.
- It was usually described as one part of a wider stack of vitamins and minerals, rather than something taken on its own.
- One long-term poster said they sometimes substituted a cheaper related extract, grape seed extract, a few times a week to save money.
- Results were described as slow to appear, with one poster suggesting it takes some weeks before any difference can be noticed.
Read from these public discussions:
- Advice on Pyconogel and other supplements for Morphology (Mumsnet (Infertility))
- Supplements to improve sperm count? (Mumsnet (Infertility))
- Heavy period natural remedy (Mumsnet (Chat))
- Is the Arginine and Pine Bark Extract in amitamin m forte good for the heart and circulation? (Patient.info (General health and lifestyle))
What forms of pine bark extract are there?
| Form | What’s different | Per serving, on products we list |
|---|---|---|
| Pine bark extract | Pine bark ground and extracted, sold either unstandardised or standardised to a stated percentage of proanthocyanidins. | not in our price tables yet |
| Pycnogenol | A standardised French maritime pine bark extract, fixed to about 65 to 75 per cent procyanidins. | 40 mg |
What else is worth knowing about pine bark extract?
- Research describes these compounds as having anti-platelet as well as antioxidant properties, but the one trial that measured this directly, in people with heart disease on standard treatment, found no change in platelet clumping after eight weeks compared with placebo.
- Several of the blood pressure and circulation trials were in people who already had a diagnosed condition, such as early-stage high blood pressure or coronary artery disease; in the heart disease trial the extract was taken alongside standard treatment, not instead of it.
- Across the research, no serious side effects have been reported, though formal safety testing of pine bark extract remains limited.
- Trial doses were usually split into two or three smaller amounts through the day rather than one large one; labels give the amount per serving, which may be more than one capsule.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
The research behind this page (22 studies)
- Effect of pycnogenol supplementation on blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials. (2020, meta-analysis)
- Effect of Pycnogenol on Blood Pressure: Findings From a PRISMA Compliant Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Clinical Studies. (2020, meta-analysis)
- Pine bark (Pinus spp.) extract for treating chronic disorders. (2020, meta-analysis)
- Pycnogenol(®) for the treatment of chronic disorders. (2012, meta-analysis)
- Pycnogenol® (extract of French maritime pine bark) for the treatment of chronic disorders. (2012, systematic review)
- Effect of Pycnogenol on the Healing of Venous Ulcers. (2017, randomised trial)
- Effects of low molecular weight procyanidin rich extract from french maritime pine bark on cardiovascular disease risk factors in stage-1 hypertensive subjects: Randomized, double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled intervention trial. (2016, randomised trial)
- Effects of Pycnogenol on endothelial function in patients with stable coronary artery disease: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. (2012, randomised trial)
- French maritime pine bark extract (pycnogenol) in association with triple combination cream for the treatment of facial melasma in women: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. (2021, randomised trial)
- Oral Pycnogenol® Intake Benefits the Skin in Urban Chinese Outdoor Workers: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, and Crossover Intervention Study. (2021, randomised trial)
- Oral administration of French maritime pine bark extract (Flavangenol(®)) improves clinical symptoms in photoaged facial skin. (2012, randomised trial)
- Does supplementation with pine bark extract improve cardiometabolic risk factors? A systematic review and meta-analysis. (2025, meta-analysis)
- The impact of pycnogenol supplementation on plasma lipids in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials. (2019, meta-analysis)
- Effects of pycnogenol on cardiometabolic health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2019, meta-analysis)
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of pycnogenol on plasma lipids. (2014, meta-analysis)
- Effect of low-dose French maritime pine bark extract on climacteric syndrome in 170 perimenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. (2013, randomised trial)
- The role of Pycnogenol in the control of inflammation and oxidative stress in chronic diseases: Molecular aspects. (2022, review)
- Pycnogenol ® French maritime pine bark extract in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical studies. (2024, review)
- Review of the pharmacokinetics of French maritime pine bark extract (Pycnogenol ® ) in humans. (2024, review)
- Pine bark extracts: nutraceutical, pharmacological, and toxicological evaluation. (2015, review)
- Review on Sustained Relief of Osteoarthritis Symptoms with a Proprietary Extract from Pine Bark, Pycnogenol. (2018, review)
- Neurodevelopmental disorders and gut-brain interactions: exploring the therapeutic potential of pycnogenol through microbial-metabolic-neural networks. (2025, review)
How much does pine bark extract cost?
That depends on the form and the pack, so we work out the price of the same dose of every pine bark extract product we can find and rank them.