What Are Antioxidants?
What is an antioxidant, and why should you care? We’ve assembled a panel of scientists and doctors to help unpack the question. Simply put, antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical reaction which creates free radicals that can damage DNA in your body’s cells.
How are free radicals formed? For an explanation, we turned to Dr. Karen Hecht, Biologist and Biochemist. “Essentially when you hit a molecule with enough energy, like you would from sunlight, you’re infusing that molecule with a ton of energy and it just…bursts in such a way that it loses an electron.”
How Free Radicals are Formed
“A molecule without an electron is extremely unstable. An unstable molecule is a free radical,” Hecht continued, “It’s going to look for any electron it can steal, from anywhere, it doesn’t matter what molecule it’s looking for-it’s going to steal an electron and destabilize another molecule forming a chain reaction that damages tissues wherever that free radical may exist.”
What kind of tissue damage can oxidation cause?
Research shows that oxidative stress can make us vulnerable to diseases like diabetes, cancer, arteriosclerosis, and metabolic disorders. Antioxidants are stop lights at the crossroads of oxidation and potential cellular damage.
“An antioxidant is a peacemaker in the body,” Dr. Hecht concludes, “It sees a free radical and it donates an electron to that unstable free radical to calm it down-give it what it needs-so that it stops that chain reaction that causes tissue damage from oxidative stress.”
How do we get antioxidants into our bodies?
In short, eat plants—lots of them.
Plants are excellent providers of antioxidants, says Dr. John A Greaves, Botanist and Plant Physiologist. “In a world of oxidative stress coming to us in all sorts of ways every single day, the more antioxidants we can consume, the better we’re going to be.”
Antioxidant foods aren’t only plentiful and easy to include in your diet and delicious. The most antioxidant-rich foods are fruits and vegetables. It’s a long list, but berries, green tea, turmeric, peppers, onions, radishes, avocados, citrus, kale, and nuts are all excellent sources. Many contain Vitamins C and E, carotenoids like beta-carotene, and vital trace minerals like selenium.
Supplementation is another excellent way to round out an antioxidant-rich diet. Dr. Jefferey Gerson explains, “So much of what happens in traditional medicine is fixing what’s broken. And what we can really see in some of these supplements is instead of waiting for something to break; addressing it and preventing it. That’s something that both doctors and patients alike are starting to appreciate more.”
5 Benefits of an Antioxidant-rich Diet and Supplementation
We’ve already discussed the importance of reducing oxidative stress to reduce the damaging effects of free radicals on our cells and tissues. Still, there are specific benefits to get excited about as well.
1. Eye Health
Consuming more antioxidant-rich foods is scientifically proven to reduce our chances of developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.
2. Gut Health
Reducing oxidative stress in the gut helps to modulate the composition of beneficial microbes that help improve overall health and immunity.
3. Brain Function and Mental Health
A lesser-known fact is that our brains are more prone to attack by free radicals due to the amount of oxygen it uses to process information. Evidence points to the fact that antioxidants improve brain health, reducing the potential for the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and helping to moderate anxiety and depression.
4. Skin Health
Antioxidant Vitamin C is highly beneficial for skin health by aiding collagen production, reducing wrinkles, and evening overall skin tone.
5. Manage Inflammation
Finally, antioxidants are critical to helping your body manage inflammation and balance the immune system and response. Inflammation is a double-edged sword: it is good if the inflammatory response is proportional to the actual threat, but it isn’t good if your body overreacts to a pathogen. Antioxidants help balance inflammation and develop a healthy immune response.
The Importance of Antioxidants
Brenda Fonseca, M.A. a cognitive neuroscientist, sums up the importance of antioxidants like having enough adult supervision at a party, “Free radicals are not necessarily bad, but they can get out of control. You have enough adult supervision, and you have a nice balance. But if some of those free radicals call other friends the party can get out of control and tear down the house, causing a lot of damage-destroying different areas of DNA and cells-which can lead to diseases. So we want to make sure we have enough adult supervision, enough antioxidants, to have a nice balance and a level party that doesn’t destroy the house.”
It’s easy to build a solid base of antioxidants into your day. Consider a Mediterranean Diet if you’re looking for an excellent place to start increasing your antioxidant levels-it’s heavy on fresh, zero-kilometer vegetables, fruits, and nuts and tends to moderate iron-rich foods like red meat. If you’re just not a fan of veggies or fruit, consider supplementation to help get what you need.
