Dietary Antioxidants:
Deciphering Dietary Antioxidants
By Dr. Paul Gross
Berrydoctor.comIt's little appreciated in public information about antioxidants but our bodies are constantly producing oxygen free radicals in roles essential to our health.
Oxygen radicals are typically formed and disabled over a period of only milliseconds or seconds. Some of them are so transient that they are formed as gas molecules that, like a wisp, are here, exert their effect, then are neutralized in the blink of an eye.
Examples of what roles these short-life oxidation signals serve:
*local control of blood vessel tone for rapidly reducing or increasing blood flow
*creating rapid signals between adjacent cells
*inhibiting platelet aggregation and so reducing risk of blood clots
*initiating a cascade of mediators required for immune regulation
*destruction of pathogens in or near cells
An example of such an oxidant is nitric oxide, biological Molecule of the Year in 1992 and subject of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
When oxidation is unregulated or prolonged over months-years, damage to cells can result as the beginning of such diseases like cancer, arthritis, diabetes, heart and vascular disease plus others.
Many of these disorders begin first as part of the inflammation response.
What can we do to affect this possible course of unregulated oxidation effects in our bodies?
Consume more antioxidant-rich foods... every day.
What are the key dietary antioxidant agents, and which ones are not useful?
Key dietary nutrients -- the antioxidant "ACE" vitamins and how to get them into your diet!!
*vitamin C click for plant sources!
*vitamin A (from plant foods containing carotenoids)
*vitamin E (from seeds, nuts, oils)
There are new research-based theories about what polyphenols may be doing in the human body after digestion. Here are a few:
1. alter on-off switches for genes
2. inhibit proliferation of inflamed cells
3. inhibit growth of new blood vessels that may be stimulated by proliferating disease cells
4. alter receptor sensitivity
5. alter cell-to-cell signaling
6. alter rates of apoptosis ("eh-poh-toe-sis")
7. modify proteins, enzymes and DNA
8. affect inflammatory mediators, serving as anti-inflammatories (not as antioxidants)
About the Author
Paul M. Gross, PhD, received his doctorate in physiology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland and was a post-doctoral fellow in neuroscience at the Laboratory of CerebralMetabolism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. A Research Scholar for the Heart and Stroke Foundations of Ontario and Canada, he published 85 peer-reviewed journal reports and book chapters over his 25 year career in medical science, and was recipient of the Karger Memorial Award, Switzerland, for publications on brain capillaries. Dr. Gross is senior author of a 2006 book on the goji berry entitled Wolfberry: Natures Bounty of Nutrition and Health (Booksurge Publishing, Amazon.com) and publisher of The Berry Doctor's Journal at http://berrydoctor.com where readers can obtain free information on berry science and nutrition.
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