What are antioxidants and what they do to your body
We know what vitamins are. They are compounds essential for our normal body functioning. That’s pretty clear. But what about antioxidants? They’re not necessarily essential. So why do we see them so often on food labels? What even are they?
What are antioxidants
Technically antioxidants are compounds that reduce oxidative stress. Anti-oxid-ants reduce oxid-ative stress – seems straightforward. But that doesn’t really explain much, does it? What is oxidative stress then?
Oxidative stress is a damaging process that happens in our bodies when there are too many free radicals. Free radicals are the natural byproducts of our daily human activities. Every time we produce energy using oxygen, we create free radicals.
Some amount of free radicals is okay. Our bodies also produce natural antioxidants to counteract the activity of free radicals. It’s a very careful balance. But when there’s too much free radicals, they can disrupt our cellular function. This disruption is called oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress has been linked to many diseases which are well summarized in this Italian paper from 2017:
- Cancer
- Depression
- Dementia
- Alzheimer’s
- Memory loss
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Atherosclerosis
- Arthritis
- Inflammation
What increases free radicals
Our bodies have this balance of self-produced free radicals and self-produced antioxidants – a healthy equilibrium. What makes it unhealthy is when there are too many free radicals produced due to other reasons. It just so happens that many environmental and lifestyle factors can increase free radical formation. These factors were again elegantly summarized in the 2017 Italian paper:
- Infection
- Excessive exercise
- Mental stress
- Ageing
- Cancer
- Heavy metals
- Smoked meat
- Used oil
- Cigarette smoke
- Alcohol
- Radiation
Which antioxidants exist?
You might have thought about antioxidants as a single group of compounds, but there are, in fact, so many different kinds. Here are some of the most common ones:
- Vitamins C and E
- Flavonoids
- Phenolics
- Alpha and beta carotene
- Selenium
- Astaxanthin
If you are interested in adding more antioxidants to your daily routine, consider trying a diet that’s full of them – the anti-inflammatory diet.
In a nutshell
In short, antioxidants are so cherished for their health benefits because they help combat free radicals which cause oxidative stress – a process that’s often quite damaging to our bodies.
By reducing the formation of free radicals and increasing your intake of antioxidants, you can reinforce your health against oxidative stress, and all the negative health consequences it brings with itself.
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