Guest guest Posted January 5, 2004 Report Share Posted January 5, 2004 Antioxidant Systems JoAnn Guest Jan 05, 2004 11:44 PST ANTIOXIDANT SYSTEMS Our body has protective mechanisms in the form of antioxidant nutrients like vitamin C, beta carotene, vitamin E, glutathione, and then there are also " enzymes " like 'superoxide dismutase', glutathione peroxidase and 'ecatalase'. It is the " defense " systems that must protect us from the free radical 'onslaught' and resultant chronic disease and aging. When the burden from our environment becomes too much and the quality of our food supply becomes poor, the free radicals become overwhelming, leading to oxidant " stress " and disease. In order to deal with this process on our modern " alien " planet we must do the following: Reduce environmental burdens in the body chemicals and heavy metals. Reduce stress. Improve quality of the food supply with organic substitutes. Increase various 'antioxidant' mechanisms. If one does this, there is a good chance that chronic disease prevention is at hand. You will then have dealt with the free radical problem. A physician who understands free radical medicine is environmentally trained and an expert is nutritional biochemistry. This physician can be your coach in both preventing and dealing with the chronic illness that is pervasive in our world today. --- Fwd: Antioxidants......they can help relieve pain --- First lets take a look at what Antioxidants are: Antioxidants are a natural occurring substance, although they can also be synthetic substances. Antioxidants help to protect cells from the damaging effects of what is know as " oxygen free radicals. " Antioxidants are agents that prevent or inhibit oxidation. Our bodies produce antioxidants to counteract the damage of free radicals, but if the supply is low, cellular damage occurs resulting in more illnesses later. The prefix " anti " means against. Antioxidants " inhibit " oxidation. Oxidation begins when free radicals, unstable molecules, grab electrons from stable ones. Free radicals are 'neutralized' by antioxidants, which can give up their electrons without becoming unstable themselves. Antioxidants can be in the form of 'enzymes', such as " superoxidase dismutase " and " peroxidases " and vitamins A, C and E, scavenger free radicals. " Superoxidase dismutase " and other cellular " enzymes " convert the very destructive and damaging effects that hydroxyl radicals have on your body into hydrogen peroxide, which is then converted into water and harmless oxygen before they can damage the cells and mitochondrial membranes, destroy cellular proteins, enzymes and DNA mutations. Assisting your cells enzyme protectors are the antioxidant's vitamins E,C and beta carotene which is a 'precursor' to vitamin A. Wondering what roles these vitamins can play in your health? These vitamins actually absorb and attach to the free radicals that are in your body and prevent them from 'attacking' your healthy normal tissues. Diseases such as cancer can be a result of DNA mutation, which results in the excessive production of oxygen free radicals that overwhelms available oxidants. Co-enzyme Q10 [CoQ10] recycles the vitamins C and E, which restores their antioxidant powers after free radical damage has been encountered. Oligomeric proanthocyanidins [OPC] is derived from the bark of French maritime pine trees and grapes. These antioxidants can strengthen connective tissue, muscles and blood vessels-- which benefit the cardiovascular system. OPC's are supplements made from the pine bark of French maritime pine trees, grapes and grape seed extract. Antioxidants can also help to relive pain by reducing free radical 'formation'. These antioxidants include the vitamins E & C, beta carotine, selenium, pycnogenol, bioflavonoids, CoQ 10, alpha lipoic acid, ginkgo biloba and bilberry. It's also thought that macular degeneration and cataracts are an indication that your body is 'deficient' in antioxidants. It's been shown that those with age related macular degeneration have low levels of glutathione and other antioxidant enzymes. The herb Gingko, or known as Gingko biloba appears to have antioxidant properties which may strengthen the cardiovascular system, especially when combined with garlic. Top Vitamin Antioxidants: vitamin A vitamin C vitamin E Selenium, the Mineral OPC's Grape seed extract Top Fruit Antioxidants prunes raisins blueberries blackberries Dates Prunes have more then double the antioxidant level of raisins. Top vegetable Antioxidants alfalfa kale spinach brussels sprouts broccoli flowers Herbs high in Antioxidants Rosemary Sheperd's purse Turmeric Definitions: -Free radicals are molecules that contain an odd number of electrons. If two radicals react, both are eliminated, but if a radical reacts with a non- radical, another free radical is produced, thus causing a chain of events that could can cause certain stages in the progression of injury within the body. -Oxygen free radicals are released during the respiratory burst phase of phagocytosis by neutrophils and macrophages during the inflammatory process and cause direct cell damage. -Peroxidase is an enzyme that hastens the transfer of oxygen from peroxide to tissue that requires oxygen, which is essential to intracellular respiration. -Superoxidase dismutase is an enzyme that destroys superoxide. This enzyme may contain manganese, copper and zinc and is prevalent in green barley drinks and green barley grasses. --- Antioxidant Nutrients --- Joy E. Swanson, Ph.D., Research Associate, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University What are Antioxidants? The terms antioxidants and free radicals are being used more and more by nutritionists and other health professionals. Antioxidants are compounds which are good for you. In contrast, free radicals are thought to be quite harmful. In general, antioxidants neutralize free radicals that are generated in the body and prevent damage to cell proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. Antioxidants can be water-soluble or lipid-soluble, thus some exist within the lipid portion and some within the water portion of your cells. Cellular antioxidant defense mechanisms can be classified into primary and secondary systems. The primary defenses include familiar nutrients such as vitamins (vitamin E and vitamin C), carotenoids (b -carotene, lycopene), thiols (glutathione, lipoic acid), ubiquinols, flavonoids and polyphenols (from herbs, teas, grape skins) and so on and a variety of enzyme 'systems' ( " catalase " , " superoxide dismutase " , " glutathione peroxidase " ). Primary defense mechanisms are thought to interact directly with harmful free radicals. The secondary defenses include enzymes that breakdown proteins and lipids and DNA repair mechanisms. Secondary defenses are primarily involved in repair of already damaged proteins and lipids. Why Do We Need Antioxidants? Harmful free radicals are generated in the body during normal metabolism and upon exposure to environmental insults such as infectious agents, pollution, UV light and radiation and so on. When harmful free radicals are not neutralized by the body's primary and secondary defense mechanisms, an excess of harmful radicals exists. Thus, if the generation of harmful radicals has exceeded the body's or cell's capacity to effectively neutralize these radicals, then these harmful radicals will damage vital proteins, lipids and DNA. Therefore, we need antioxidants to ensure that our defense mechanisms for neutralizing harmful radicals will not be exceeded. Numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated an association between higher intakes or higher blood concentrations of certain antioxidants and a lower incidence of certain degenerative diseases. Clinical studies have also shown that supplemental levels of antioxidant vitamins (vitamin E, vitamin C and b -carotene) reduce an individual's risk for certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. Moreover, a protective relationship has been shown between cancer risk and organic fruit and vegetable consumption (the major source of antioxidant nutrients). Antioxidants and Health Maintenance-- Awareness of the potential benefits of antioxidant nutrients in health maintenance is growing. Evidence is now available that indicates that harmful free radicals play a role in most major health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and degenerative diseases associated with aging. The function of antioxidant nutrients in the body is quite varied. Antioxidants effect cell differentiation and proliferation, block nitrosamine formation, stimulate the immune response, help maintain the integrity of cell membranes and matrixes, and aid in the maintenance of normal DNA repair. It is currently believed that antioxidants do not act alone, but rather carry out their protective effects by using various combinations of antioxidant defense mechanisms. For example, when vitamin E neutralizes a harmful radical, vitamin E is recycled back to its original form by interacting with vitamin C. Vitamin C is recycled by interacting with another antioxidant such as glutathione. Recycling is just one mechanism the body uses to maintain and adequate supply of antioxidants. Our knowledge of the effect of this recycling and other interplay mechanisms within the antioxidant defense systems is far from complete. However, evidence gathered to date suggest that these antioxidant nutrients must be constantly replenished through the diet and/or by dietary supplementation. http://www.cce.cornell.edu/food/expfiles/topics/swanson/antioxidantso verview.html _________________ JoAnn Guest mrsjo- DietaryTi- http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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