Everything you need to know about antioxidants: a smart and informed choice for good health
What are antioxidants?
An antioxidant is: 1) a chemical compound or substance that inhibits oxidation. Or 2) a (natural) substance, such as vitamin E, vitamin C, or beta-carotene, that is believed to protect the body’s cells from the damaging effects of oxidation.
Antioxidants can be found naturally in whole foods where they are usually found in groups; or they are made synthetically and sold as supplements, usually with a single antioxidant instead of several.
What are the free radicals? Do we need antioxidants?
Oxidation occurs when free radicals (highly reactive, high-energy particles) bounce wildly throughout the body, damaging cells. Free radicals can be produced within the body by natural biological processes or introduced from outside through tobacco smoke, toxins, pollutants, and suboptimal eating habits. Free radicals are believed to accelerate the progression of cancer, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue, and age-related diseases. The antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables help neutralize free radicals in the body.
In general, it is recommended that people eat 7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day: 2 servings of fruit and 5 servings of vegetables. Most people don’t eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables every day. Additionally, most industrially grown fruits and vegetables do not contain the same nutritional benefits that are available in organically grown whole foods and also contain more toxins (sources of free radicals) for the body to combat.
Why are antioxidants found in plants?
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert light energy from the sun into stored physical energy (nutrition). Photosynthesis exposes plants to large amounts of free radicals. Plants produce antioxidants to protect themselves from damage from these free radicals. Antioxidant plant pigments, mainly carotenoids and polyphenols that are responsible for shine
the orange, red, blue, and purple colors of many fruits, berries, and algae provide most of this protection. Research has shown that human ingestion of these plant-based antioxidants results in similar protection for humans. Research also shows that antioxidants work synergistically (where the combined effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects) and are much more effective when a spectrum of antioxidants is ingested, rather than individual isolated compounds. For example, the herb thyme contains more than 20 separate antioxidants alone.
Also, when food is grown organically, without the use of synthetic pesticides and herbicides, the plant must become stronger (through fighting) and therefore more nourished in order to survive. While industrially grown food with the liberal use of synthetic herbicides and pesticides, relies on chemicals to protect it and therefore does not contain the same available nutrition as organically grown food by up to 60% less.
What are ORAC units? How many do we need?
ORAC, short for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, is a standardized measure of a substance’s total antioxidant power, which is its ability to scavenge oxygen free radicals. The more free radicals a substance can absorb, the higher its ORAC score. Nutritionists recommend that we consume around 5,000 ORAC units per day to significantly impact antioxidant activity in the body and reduce free radical damage. To give you some perspective, a half-cup serving of fruits or vegetables provides approximately 500 ORAC units. If you’re not eating at least 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (preferably organically grown), you’re not getting the recommended number of ORAC units to neutralize free radical damage in your body every day. Considering the amounts and exposures to the many and varied sources of toxins in the world today, a best estimate of the ORAC units needed would be 7000 ORAC per day.
Whole Foods vs. supplements
If you supplement with single-dose antioxidants, or a combination of a few isolated antioxidant nutrients, you probably won’t get the benefits you need. While isolated nutrients may have powerful antioxidant benefits in vitro (test tube), they have significantly less benefits in vivo (body). Where food high in antioxidants have proven benefits both in humans and in vitro, it is known that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can help prevent cancers, coronary diseases and strokes. Synthetic antioxidants may actually increase cancer risk. In fact, every large clinical trial that has used isolated Antioxidant nutrients have not shown benefit for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Most isolated antioxidant nutrients are chemically and structurally different from those found in real foods; and they do not have the desired effect on the human body. Research has found that whole tomato powder, but not lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes, inhibits prostate carcinogenesis in rats, demonstrating the superior functionality and efficacy of whole food nutrition compared to supplementation with high doses of isolated nutrients.
What is a superfood?
A superfood is a type of food that is believed to have more significant health benefits than any other type of food due to its specific phytonutrient content. For example, blueberries are considered a superfood because they contain significant amounts of antioxidants, phytoflavonoids, vitamin C, and potassium, which are believed to provide important health benefits.
How to get your daily requirements of 5000-7000 ORAC units
You can eat the recommended 2-3 servings of fruits and 5-7 servings of vegetables daily, choosing high-quality, organically grown fruits and vegetables.
You can choose a blend of certified organic whole grain superfoods, providing a broad spectrum of nutritional and antioxidant benefits and preferably in powdered form. For example, a blend such as: certified organic unrefined raw cacao powder, dried coffee fruit extract, certified organic freeze-dried pomegranate powder, certified organic freeze-dried goji berry powder, certified organic freeze-dried acai berry powder, dried dunaliella certified organic whole salina marine microalgae, certified organic freeze-dried blueberry powder, certified organic freeze-dried raspberry powder, certified organic freeze-dried strawberry powder, certified organic freeze-dried olive juice extract. A blend like this provides all the nutritional and antioxidant benefits of each whole food along with the benefits of all whole foods together. One serving of such a mix would provide the recommended daily ORAC requirements.
What Form of Superfood Blend Should I Consume?
You should definitely look for a powdered form where the superfoods contained within have been freeze-dried, putting the nutrition and antioxidants in suspended animation, unharmed. Adding the powder to your own liquid (water, juice, soy milk, etc.) makes a quick and easy fortifying drink.
You need to pay attention to how the superfood was processed (freeze-dried) and the quality of the superfoods contained in the powder (organic).
A useful feature would be the individual serving packs instead of the large jar for easy portability.
