About Antioxidants

This category is so important that I am beginning the discussion of nutrition with antioxidants. Although necessary for life, oxygen is incredibly toxic. In fact, the greatest mass extinction in the history of the planet occurred when algae (which create large amounts of oxygen) began to grow in the seas. Putting large amounts of oxygen into the air, it is estimated that they drove over 95% of animal species then living into extinction. Oxygen is that toxic. Using oxygen to create energy results in the production of toxic "free radicals," which set up ongoing, self-sustaining chain reactions of molecular damage. Antioxidants end these chain reactions and are critical to life. Species that developed antioxidant defense systems and actually learned to thrive on oxygen survived the coming of algae. Doing so, however, is quite literally like playing with fire!

There are many antioxidants discussed in this nutrition primer. Key nutrients for antioxidant function include vitamins C & E, beta carotene, lipoic acid, glutathione (from glutamine, glycine and cysteine), zinc, copper and manganese (for SOD function — though too much copper worsens oxidation). Coenzyme Q10 and the sleep hormone melatonin also act as antioxidants.

In addition to being critical for the production of energy, antioxidants also seem to be very important for maintaining health and youth. In fact, doctors who specialize in "anti-aging medicine" use antioxidants (as well as bioidentical hormones) as key tools.

More Information Online

Nutritional primer

We have a 20,000 word primer on nutrition at our website that provides more detail with study references on each nutrient. Click here to visit the "Antioxidants" section of our primer.