If your Antioxicant / Oxidative Stress with Supplement score is Moderate or greater, additional antioxidants are advised.
Every day, our bodies are bombarded by free radicals from air pollution, pesticides, fried foods, alcohol, other environmental factors, and as the result of normal bodily processes. These damaging molecules destroy healthy cells and accelerate the aging process. Naturally occurring and supplemental antioxidants work to “quench” or neutralize the effects of free radicals.
Even though two individuals may be eating the same foods and taking the same supplements, one may have a low level of free radical activity and the other a high level. Some individuals, regularly taking antioxidants, will still have a high level of radical activity and must increase their antioxidant intake. Because excessive free radical activity is a major cause of degenerative diseases, controlling this activity by lifestyle changes and supplementation will help to prevent these diseases.
There is very solid evidence that supplemental antioxidant nutrients help to prevent atherosclerosis, cancer, arthritis, and other aging-related diseases. Overall, free radicals have been implicated in the pathogenesis of at least 50 diseases. It is when the availability of antioxidants is limited that this damage can become cumulative and debilitating.
Most of the oxidants produced by cells occur as:
- A consequence of normal aerobic metabolism: approximately 90% of the oxygen utilized by the cell is consumed by the mitochondrial electron transport system.
- Oxidative burst from phagocytes (white blood cells) as part of the mechanism by which bacteria and viruses are killed, and by which foreign proteins (antigens) are denatured.
- Xenobiotic metabolism, i.e., detoxification of toxic substances.
Consequently, things like vigorous exercise, which accelerates cellular metabolism; chronic inflammation, infections, and other illnesses; exposure to allergens and the presence of “leaky gut” syndrome; and exposure to drugs or toxins such as cigarette smoke, pollution, pesticides, and insecticides may all contribute to an increase in the body’s oxidant load.