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 ASK THE DOCTOR
Dr. Chad Larson
Antioxidant:
The Free Radical Quencher |
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We hope to be a voice of change in the health care industry. Mainstream health care is very reactive and virtually not at all proactive. The current system seems to okay with waiting until a disease manifests before it will take any action. The very nature of being reactive and the therapies it enlists ensures that disease will perpetuate … this is disease care not health care. If health promotion were the goal of the health care industry, they would use their massive revenues and absurdly inflated profit margins to tap into every public media available to discuss wellness and prevention of disease.
One wellness promoting aspect that prevents disease and needs to be discussed again and again is the power and necessity of antioxidants. The word antioxidant is a very general term that encompasses thousands of different compounds and nutrients. But one of the key similarities between all antioxidants is that they help to combat free radicals.
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 What Are Free Radicals? |
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Free radicals are highly reactive compounds that are created in the body during normal metabolic functions or introduced from the environment. Free radicals are inherently unstable, since they contain “extra” energy. To reduce their energy load, free radicals react with certain chemicals in the body, and in the process, interfere with the cells’ ability to function normally. Antioxidants work in several ways: they may reduce the energy of the free radical, stop the free radical from forming in the first place, or interrupt an oxidizing chain reaction to minimize the damage caused by free radicals.
Free radicals are believed to play a role in more than sixty different health conditions, including the aging process, cancer, and atherosclerosis. Reducing exposure to free radicals and increasing intake of antioxidant nutrients has the potential to reduce the risk of free radical-related health problems.
Oxygen, although essential to life, is the source of the potentially damaging free radicals. Free radicals are also found in the environment. Environmental sources of free radicals include exposure to ionizing radiation (from industry, sun exposure, cosmic rays, and medical X-rays), ozone and nitrous oxide (primarily from automobile exhaust), heavy metals (such as mercury, cadmium, and lead), cigarette smoke (both active and passive), alcohol, unsaturated fat, and other chemicals and compounds from food, water, and air.
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| The Body Knows How to Defend Itself |
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The body produces several antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, which neutralize many types of free radicals. Supplements of these enzymes are available for oral administration. However, their absorption is probably minimal at best. Supplementing with the “building blocks” the body requires to make SOD, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase may be more effective. These building block nutrients include the minerals manganese, zinc, and copper for SOD and selenium for glutathione peroxidase. |
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| Antioxidants from an External Source |
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In addition to enzymes, many vitamins and minerals act as antioxidants in their own right, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, vitamin B2, coenzyme Q10, and cysteine (an amino acid). Herbs, such as bilberry, turmeric (curcumin), grape seed or pine bark extracts, and ginkgo can also provide powerful antioxidant protection for the body.
Other popular sources of antioxidants are extracts of resveratrol and ellagic acid. Green tea extract has also long been known as a powerful antioxidant and has been used therapeutically for thousands of years. Greens drinks are also very popular for their high ORAC values. ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is a numerical evaluation of the antioxidant effect of a particular substance. Greens drinks are so concentrated that will often have the equivalent ORAC value of eating 10 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per serving.
Consuming a wide variety of antioxidant enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and herbs may be the best way to provide the body with the most complete protection against free radical damage.
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| Are Antioxidant supplements right for you? |
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Considering
the following:
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| References |
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Schumacker P (2006). "Reactive oxygen species in cancer cells: Live by the sword, die by the sword.". Cancer Cell 10 (3): 175-6.
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