Antioxidant Activity
Antioxidant is a term you hear and read about often in medical research and the health and wellness space.
What exactly does antioxidant mean and why is it important to the body?
It is technically more accurate to say substances that can act as antioxidants instead of calling them antioxidants, because these substances have many other roles beyond antioxidant activity. However, for simplicity’s sake, I’m going to just use antioxidant.
I’m first going to define some key terms that you need to understand in order to fully understand what antioxidants do.
Free Radical
Free Radicals are any molecule containing an unpaired electron. Free radicals are very reactive and can trigger oxidation.
Oxidant
An oxidant is a molecule that contains oxygen and is highly reactive. Like free radicals, they easily react with other molecules and change their chemical nature. These changes are ultimately toxic to the cell.
Oxidation
Oxidation is a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals and lead to chain reactions that damage our cells. Certain substances can act as antioxidants, such as thiols like Glutathione or Vitamin C, to terminate these chain reactions.
Antioxidants are incredibly important to our cells. Free radicals and oxidants are formed during the everyday chemical reactions within our body (such as turning our food into energy) and in greater numbers during times of stress and illness.
What happens when free radicals and oxidants are formed?
I liken it to a game of dominos. The first domino— a molecule with an unpaired electron, i.e. a free radical, seeks to pair that electron by stealing another electron from a neighboring molecule. When that domino makes contact with another, the chain reaction begins. The dominos will continue to fall until an antioxidant steps in and stops it. Antioxidant activity thwarts these reactive species and the damage they cause.
How do I add more antioxidants to my diet?
Antioxidants are found in many of the fruits and vegetables we eat. Vitamin C and E, beta carotene (vitamin A precursor) and quercetin are examples of powerful antioxidants.