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Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Free radical damage may lead to cancer. Antioxidants interact with and stabilize free radicals and may prevent some of the damage free radicals might otherwise cause. Examples of antioxidants include beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamins C, E, and A, and other substances.
Most of us think we can get enough anti-oxidants from our daily vegetable and fruit. However, in this heavily industrialized world, most of our food are planted thousands of miles away and are transported to our super market. When the fruit and vegetable are picked up in the farm, most of them are picked up raw. What we eat does not go through the normal process of photosynthesis. You can notice that quite a few our fruits sit in the supermarket raw and we need to wait for them to ripen. Thus the antioxidants in the commercial supermarkets are very low.
It is important to eat locally grown produce as much as possible because food has its greatest nutrient content when it’s ripe so the less time between harvest and your belly, the better. Since most of our food is picked unripe and then shipped across country, it’s no wonder the nutrient value is a lot lower than it used to be. Consider the fact that a 100g serving of spinach contained 150mg of iron in 1958 but by 1973, that was down to 2.2mg! Or the fact that soil contains 84 nutrients, but farmers are only required to replace 4 of them. Unfortunately, unless you are growing your own food in your backyard like my Italian immigrant grandparents, your food does not have nearly the nutrients that it did years ago. It is, therefore, recommended that we also use high quality supplements to ensure an adequate arsenal of protection.
Antioxidant Supplements
The traditional sources of antioxidants are Vitamins A, C, E and Selenium. These sources are becoming the dinosaurs of antioxidants as much more powerful nutrients are being discovered. For example, vitamin E contributes one electron to vitamin C’s two electrons to help combat free radical damage but look weak in comparison to the 50 electrons that the Power House Antioxidants contribute. What is important to understand is the synergistic effect that combining antioxidants provides. By combining A, C and E with the below, you increase the efficacy and power of both types so the more the merrier!
Power House Antioxidants
OPC’s
This stands for a long word called Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins – that’s why we call them OPC’s! OPC’s are bioflavonoids (complex organic plant compounds) found in fruits, vegetables and certain tree barks. The strongest sources of OPC’s are in grape seed extract, Martime pine bark (pygnogenol), red wine extract, and bilberry extract.
Resveratrol – is a natural antioxidant that comes from red wine. You would have to drink too much wine, however, to receive the benefit of this antioxidant so better to take in supplement form. Preliminary animal studies show much promise in preventing or slowing down the growth of cancer cells with this baby.
ORAC
A good ORAC supplement should contain at least 3000 ORAC units in the form of high-ORAC value foods such as blueberries, cranberries and elderberries. As mentioned above, ORAC refers to Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity, which is a method for measuring the antioxidant capacities of different foods, and how many oxygen radicals a substance can absorb.
Acai Berry - is harvested from the rain forests of Brazil and is said to contain some of the highest levels of antioxidants on the market, with studies showing up to 33 times the antioxidant properties as red wine grapes. The dense pigmentation of açaí has led to several experimental studies of its anthocyanins, a group of polyphenols that give the deep color to fruits and vegetables and are high in antioxidant value.
The above are some of the most powerful antioxidants that we know of today. As the quest for health and the demand for holistic approaches to disease increases, I’m sure that the research will continue and our options will increase. Stay tuned.
Advice on selecting supplements
This is one area where you get what you pay for. To benefit from supplements, you have to make sure that you are buying a quality one without fillers and binders. Below are absorption rates for various types of supplements:
Pill – pressed tablet – 10 – 90%
Capsule 30 – 75%
Liquid 75 – 80%
Isotonic 90 – 95%
IV – 100%
Also, please make sure to check with your doctor before you take any supplements. They may not be able to tell you if it will help you but just ask, “Will this hurt me?” Many supplements are herb based as are pharmaceutical drugs so interactions are possible and it is best to check if you are currently taking any kind of medications.
4 Key Aspects of Health
Healthy Diet:
Alkaline Food List
Regular Exercise
Adequate Sleep
Sufficient amount of High quality nutritional supplementation
Here is the article from Dr. Ray Strand, He explains the fundamentals of Cellular Nutrion as to why our cells need nutrion. He is the Author of What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutritional Medicines May Be Killing you.
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