Why Anti-Oxidants?

By RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR

Photo Courtesy: http://antioxdoc.com

Free radicals are a large group of harmful compounds released during any inflammatory or infection process. Normally, the body can handle free radicals, but if anti-oxidants are unavailable, or, if the free-radical production becomes excessive, damage can occur.

Needless to say, free radical damage accumulates with age.

In other words, each day of our lives our body is attacked by free radicals, in the form of chemical compounds, toxins, and a host of other harmful substances.

This is where anti-oxidants play a very major role -- they can help us to cleanse our body of these harmful substances and provide us the ability to live a longer and healthier life.

Major anti-oxidants such as vitamins A, C and E are evidenced to protect the body against the destructive effects of free radicals. These anti-oxidant nutrients don’t necessarily transform the free radicals. They actually act as scavengers, helping us to prevent cell and tissue damage that could lead to cellular damage and disease, including cancer.

Vitamin C, a great anti-oxidant in the body, acts primarily in cellular fluid. It is a key element that more than plays a pivotal role in combating free radical formation caused by chemicals, pollution and cigarette smoking. Besides this, it also helps return vitamin E to its active form. This is not all. Many studies have correlated high vitamin C intakes with low rates of cancer -- especially, cancers of the mouth, larynx and oesophagus

Vitamin E is another great anti-oxidant in the body. It is also one of the most efficient anti-oxidants available. Vitamin E is a primary defender against oxidation, and lipid per oxidation, or creation of unstable molecules, containing more oxygen than is normal.

Besides this, vitamin E is suggested to protect against heart [cardiovascular] disease by defending against LDL [“bad”] cholesterol oxidation and its role in the formation of arterial plaque, which can lead to heart disease, heart attack or stroke.

Role Of Anti-Oxidants

Anti-oxidants act as adjudicators in the body, and obstruct potentially hazardous situations caused by free radicals. They are also suggested to help protect the body from free radical damage itself.

This does not, of course, mean that you can go on a binge with them. Anything in excess is not a good idea -- what would be most effective and useful, however, would be the intake of anti-oxidants through food in normal amounts and/or supplements prescribed by your therapist in optimal dosages.

Needless to say, there are a host of natural chemicals and substances that are found in nature which have anti-oxidant properties and beneficial effects. Experts advise that the best way to ensure adequate intake of anti-oxidant nutrients is through a balanced diet consisting of 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables everyday.

If not, a supplement with the right proportion of vitamins and minerals is most essential.

The Story Of Free Radicals

Free radicals are highly unstable chemicals that attack, infiltrate, and injure vital cell structures. Most stable chemical compounds in the body possess a pair of electrons. Sometimes, one member of the electron pair gets exposed. The resulting compound, which is short of one electron, becomes a free radical.

When a free radical emerges, it goes on a merry-go-round around the body looking for another compound. Its intention is to steal an electron. This results in the release of yet another free radical -- the chain goes on. In the process, free radicals that are formed -- which are in simple terms the oxidation products in the body -- can cause enormous damage to the delicate functioning of our cells.

Mitochondria, Metabolism & Free Radicals

 Almost 98 per cent of the oxygen we breathe is used by mitochondria -- the powerhouses of our cells. They convert sugar, fats and inorganic phosphates, as we read in our school textbooks, by combining with oxygen, into adenosine triphosphate [ATP], which provides us the universal form of energy we all need to live. This energy-producing activity of the mitochondria involves a series of complex and vital biochemical processes that depend, in turn, on a vast number of enzymes -- which are, again, dependent on dozens of nutrient factors and co-factors.

During metabolism, a small amount of oxygen that is left over loses electrons, and this creates free radicals, which we explained earlier. Free radicals cause dents in our cellular membranes, mainly because calcium penetrates our cells through them. Excess calcium -- not what you eat in your diet, or take in the form of a supplement -- causes cell death and damages the tissues and organs. As this damage continues, our body become depleted and does not have the “stomach” to fight disorders like atherosclerosis [hardening of the arteries, which can cause heart attack, or stroke], cancer, premature aging, and other bodily ailments.

Free Radical Onslaught: Nip It In The Bud

Free radical attacks can cause a typical human cell to undergo thousands of mutations, or changes, daily, as touched upon earlier.

Here is one classical example of the damage it can cause. If a DNA strand, for one, gets smacked and is not corrected before its other compound gets hit, it leads to the onset of a potentially lethal cancer.

You need to also remember that the free radical assault is not limited to oxygen alone; it can also emerge by way of environmental pollution, radiation, smoking, chemicals, pesticides etc.,

The key to having a healthy body is to repair the damage caused by free radicals before it is late. This also means that you need to protect your body’s tissue cells from the free radical invasion before they cause mutations.

Anti-oxidants are substances that have free radical chain-reaction-breaking properties. They disengage potentially dangerous free radicals before they cause damage to a cell.

Sources Of Anti-Oxidants

Most of the anti-oxidants come from plant source, or derivatives. They are called nutraceuticals or functional foods [phytochemicals]. Nearly 70,000 such plant compounds have been identified -- the most effective among them being vitamins A, C, the most potent, and E. They are also celebrated by the acronym -- ACE.

In actuality, each cell in our body produces its own anti-oxidants. However, our ability to produce anti-oxidants decreases as we age. It is, therefore, imperative that our diet should contain a regular supply of anti-oxidants, especially by way of nutraceuticals or phytochemicals -- fruits and vegetables -- besides the prescribed intake of supplemental vitamins and minerals.

Our bodies also produce several anti-oxidant enzymes, which destroy many types of harmful free radicals.

Supplements of such enzymes are available in the form of tablets, or capsules. They are -- manganese, zinc, copper, chromium, selenium etc.,

In addition to enzymes, many vitamins and minerals such as vitamin A, B, C, and E, beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, co-enzyme Q10, and the amino acid, cysteine, act as natural anti-oxidants. You may also think of herbs, such as milk thistle, aloe vera, cascara sagrada, bilberry, turmeric, grape seed, or pine bark extracts, licorice, and ginkgo, which can all provide natural and powerful anti-oxidant protection for the body and help block many of the health problems associated with free radicals.

The consumption of a wide variety of anti-oxidant enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and herbs, needless to say, naturally and/or as supplements, is recommended as the best way to provide the body with the most ideal and most complete defence against free radical damage.

Natural anti-oxidants are most plentiful in fruits and vegetables, as well as other foods such whole grains, nuts, as also meat, poultry, and fish. They are in précis --

Beta-carotene. This is found in carrots, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, apricots, squash, pumpkin, and mango. Some green leafy vegetables are also rich in beta-carotene -- e.g., spinach.

Lycopene . This potent anti-oxidant is commonly found in tomatoes, watermelon, papaya, guava, apricots, pink grapefruit, oranges, and other foods.

Lutein . This anti-oxidant is famous for its association with healthy vision. It is found in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach.

Selenium. Though selenium is technically not an anti-oxidant, it is an important component of most anti-oxidant enzymes. It is found in plant derivatives such as rice and wheat. Rice and wheat are the most common dietary sources of selenium in most countries. Brazil nuts are another great source -- they contain large quantities of selenium.

Vitamin A . This is found in liver, carrots, sweet potatoes, egg yolk, milk and mozzarella cheese.

Vitamin C. This is found in high concentrations in many citrus fruits and vegetables, including cereals, beef, poultry, and fish products.

Vitamin E . Vitamin E is found in many oils including wheat germ, corn, safflower, and soybean. It is also found in mango and nuts -- especially almonds -- broccoli, and other foods.

Important : If your diet does not really provide an adequate amount of anti-oxidants, or if you are just unsure, it is essential for you to supplement your diet with a high-quality anti-oxidant vitamin and mineral complex, in consultation with your therapist/dietician.