What Do You Really Know About Antioxidants and Free Radicals?

Antioxidants and free radicals are terms found in health and diet magazines on a regular basis these days. Advertisements on food containers tell consumers that antioxidants are good because they fight the effects of free radicals, but they don't disclose why. It is simply relayed that antioxidants are supposed to be good, and free radicals are automatically bad. The hype over the past several years has those in the the health conscious community wondering if they should be adding antioxidant supplements to their diet. However, before anyone runs to the local pharmacy, it's important to get the facts.

In order to understand what antioxidants and free radicals are and how they work, it is important first to recall a little bit of high school biology and chemistry. Both antioxidants and free radicals work at the molecular and atomic level of the living cell. All cells are made up of molecules, which are two or more atoms held together by shared electrons, resulting in a strong chemical bond that is sufficiently stable and electrically neutral. The type of molecule is specified by the types of atoms, and the location of the shared electrons (www.exrx.net). Antioxidants and free radicals affect the stability of molecules and atoms within a cell.

Free radicals are atoms or molecules that have lost, or been stripped of, an electron, leaving another electron unpaired. Ideally, atoms are most stable when every electron in the outermost shell has a complimentary electron spinning in the opposite direction. When the atom or molecule loses an electron, and becomes unpaired, it becomes unstable. It also becomes reactive, meaning it seeks to replace the electron it has lost by stealing or stripping one from another nearby atom or molecule, thereby making that atom or molecule a free radical and starting a chain reaction, in a process referred to as oxidative stress. Left unchecked, it can cause the dysfunction of the entire living cell (www.ific.org).

Antioxidants, on the other hand, are atoms or molecules that have the ability to remain stable even if they lose electrons. They counteract free radicals by giving up their electrons without needing to replace them, thereby putting a halt to the chain reaction that could ultimately ruin the cell (www.healthcastle.com). It is believed that, in some cases, antioxidants may also repair damage already done to some cells. There is a list of antioxidants in the form of vitamins and minerals, the most popular being vitamins A, C, E, selenium, beta-carotine, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Antioxidants can be found in a wide variety of foods, such as fruits and vegetables, nuts and grains, eggs, teas, some meats and fish, and even chocolate and wine.

In most discussions of antioxidants and free radicals, the latter appears to be something to avoid. However, free radicals are created naturally in the body as by-products during food metabolism and exercise. They are also often produced in the body to fight viruses and bacteria. The body has a natural antioxidant defense system to remove the unwanted free radicals when no longer needed. It is only when there is an overabundance of free radicals that the body's natural defense system can not control that problems at the cellular level may occur. Additional free radicals may also be created by environmental factors from outside the body, such as pollution, radiation, cigarette smoke, and chemicals like herbicides (healthchecksystems.com), which may tip the scale of balance between the free radicals the body produces for beneficial reasons, and the ability of the antioxidants to properly control and dispose of them. Free radicals are believed to have a hand in causing cancers, and many diseases, such as cardiovascular, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's, to name a few. Free radicals may also contribute, in some instances, to the onset of diabetes. Additionally, the body's natural antioxidant defense system is believed to become less effective with age, as oxidative stress becomes more prevalent.

At the height of the health craze of the 1980s, it was the popular belief that, if a moderate amount of something beneficial for the body is good, then more must be better. Today, many are wondering if the same is true about antioxidants. More, however, does not necessarily mean better. Vitamin C, for example, is a water-soluble vitamin that helps absorb iron. Whatever is not used on a daily basis is flushed out of the body. Since vitamin C can not be stockpiled for future use, and overabundance results in little more than expensive urine. In rare instances, too much vitamin C can cause a variety of gastric problems (www.mayoclinic.com). The same is true of protein in eggs, and iron in red meat. Both iron and protein are important for a well balanced diet and are found in red meat and eggs, respectively. Yet the consumption of too much red meat and too many eggs with yolks can increase cholesterol, and thereby result in a greater risk of heart disease. For decades since the 20th century, milk was considered the miracle food (www.mothercow.org). Most mammals require it (or some facsimile thereof) in their early years. Too much milk in humans, however, adds unwanted and unneeded fat to their diet, which can contribute a host of other health problems. Research over the years supports that each of these substances, in moderation, is part of a healthy diet. Too much, however, has the potential of having a negative impact on a person's health.

Though claims that antioxidants include possibly warding off diseases, strengthening the immune system, and significantly slowing down the aging process, the American Heart Association, among other health agencies, still does not recommend using antioxidant supplements until further research is done. While the benefits of a well-balanced diet that include antioxidants have been well documented, additional supplements of antioxidants have not yet yielded any conclusive results (www.ific.org). An overabundance of antioxidants may some day prove to be beneficial to a person's health. On the other hand, it may also be found to be relatively useless, as in the case of vitamin C, or may have detrimental effects on the body, as with too much red meat. The existence of antioxidants and free radicals are balanced in the body under normal circumstances. Exactly how antioxidant supplements would affect this balance still needs to be studied. Based on the knowledge we have today, it appears that sticking to a balanced diet, which is already high in the very foods that are antioxidant-rich, combined with avoiding those elements, such as pollution, cigarette smoking and unprotected exposure to the sun's rays to prevent the overabundance of free radicals, is still the most common prescription for good health.

References:

"Antioxidant Vitamins." American Heart Association. N.p., n.d. Web.

Cow Protection - Your model for proper treatment of our mother. N.p., 2004. Web.

"Free Radical Introduction." ExRx (Exercise Prescription) on the Net. N.p., n.d. Web.

"Functional Foods Fact Sheet: Antioxidants." Ific.org : Welcome to International Food Information Council Foundation. N.p., Mar. 2006. Web.

Tsang, Gloria. "Antioxidants 101 - What and Where?" Nutrition Advice by Registered Dietitians - HealthCastle.com. N.p., Dec. 2005. Web.

"Understanding Free Radicals and Antioxidants." HealthCheck Systems. N.p., n.d. Web.

Zeratsky, Katherine. "Vitamin C: Can too much be harmful? - MayoClinic.com." Mayo Clinic medical information and tools for healthy living - MayoClinic.com. N.p., 22 Mar. 2008. Web.