We have all heard about Antioxidants, but not many know how Antioxidants work, their health benefits, and the potential threats Antioxidant Supplements can do to the body. In this article, we will explain everything you need to know about Antioxidants.
ANTIOXIDANTS AND FREE RADICALS
Antioxidants are molecules that fight free radicals in your body.
Free Radicals are atoms or molecules capable of independent existence that are highly reactive and unstable. They are produced from normal essential metabolic processes in the human body and external sources such as exposure to X-rays, cigarette smoking, air pollutants, and industrial chemicals. Free Radicals steal electrons from other atoms or molecules, causing damage to DNA and other cells.
An atom is stable when its outer shell is full of electrons. Free radicals have an unpaired electron which makes them unstable. To become more stable, they take electrons from other atoms. This may cause diseases or signs of ageing.
However, free radicals also perform essential functions that are vital for health. For example, our immune cells use free radicals to fight infections. Therefore, our body needs to maintain a specific balance of free radicals and antioxidants.
An excessive amount of free radicals in the body causes a condition called Oxidative Stress, which may lead to chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, and also causes symptoms of ageing, such as wrinkles.
ANTIOXIDANTS
Antioxidants work by giving electrons to a free radical and neutralising it, thus reducing its ability to damage. They are also involved in mechanisms that repair DNA and support the health of cells.
Atomic representation of an Antioxidant giving an electron to a Free Radical thus neutralising it.
Some antioxidants are produced during normal metabolism in the body. They are called "endogenous antioxidants". However, the principle micronutrient (vitamins) antioxidants are vitamin E, vitamin C, and beta-carotene, joined by flavonoids, phenols, polyphenols, phytoestrogens, and many more. The body cannot manufacture these micronutrients, so they must be supplied in the diet. Antioxidants that come from outside the body are called "exogenous".
According to some studies, coffee is the single biggest source of antioxidants in the human diet.
Important Note
"Antioxidant" is a chemical property, namely, the ability to act as an electron donor, and using the term "antioxidant" to refer to substances is misleading. There are thought to be hundreds and possibly thousands of substances that can act as antioxidants.
Another huge misconception is that antioxidants are interchangeable. In fact, they are not. Each one has specific chemical behaviours and biological properties. They evolved as parts of complicated networks, with each substance (or family of substances) playing different roles. This means that no single antioxidant can do the work of the whole crowd.
NATURAL ANTIOXIDANTS VS SUPPLEMENTS
Dietary intake of antioxidants is vital for health, but more is not necessarily better. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) warn that high doses of antioxidant supplements can be harmful.
For example, the results of some studies have linked the use of high-dose beta-carotene supplements to an increased risk of lung cancer in smokers and the use of high-dose vitamin E supplements to increased risks of hemorrhagic stroke (a type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain) and prostate cancer. Additionally, various dietary and antioxidant supplements may interact badly with certain prescribed medications. For example, vitamin E supplements may increase the risk of bleeding in people who are taking anticoagulant medications.
One possible reason why many studies on antioxidant supplements do not show a health benefit or show the opposite effects is that antioxidants tend to work best in combination with other nutrients, plant chemicals, and even other antioxidants.
For example, a cup of Coffee Leaf Drink contains about 30mg of Mangiferin. But a supplement containing 500 mg of Mangiferin does not contain plant chemicals (polyphenols) like Chlorogenic Acids and Trigonelloine naturally found in Coffee Leaf, which also possesses antioxidant activity and may team up with Mangiferin to fight diseases. Polyphenols also have many other chemical properties besides their ability to serve as antioxidants.
Differences in the amount and type of antioxidants in foods versus those in supplements might also influence their effects. For example, there are at least two chemical forms of Xanthones (Mangiferin and Isomangiferin) present in Coffee Leaves. However, Mangiferin supplements typically only include one form and are therefore not as active in the body as “Natural” Mangiferin.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Excessive free radicals contribute to chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, cognitive decline, and vision loss. The studies so far are inconclusive but typically don’t provide strong evidence that antioxidant supplements have a significant impact on diseases.
At the same time, abundant evidence suggests that eating whole fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and drinking Coffee, Coffee Leaf, and Tea - all rich in networks of naturally occurring antioxidants and their helper molecules - provides protection against many scourges of ageing.
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