You’ve probably heard it all before: “Fortified with antioxidants!” “All your recommended antioxidants in one day!”
What are antioxidants anyways? Random chemicals made up by companies? Nutritional supplements? The freedom fighters against the evil oxidants, which cause AIDS and cancer and ingrown toenails?
Not quite; an antioxidant is a molecule that prevents oxidation (loss of electrons) of another molecule. This is important because if antioxidants didn’t exist, any time a cell got damaged by anything at all (UV light, physical damage, etc.), it would form a free radical (a molecule that doesn’t have all of its electrons). These free radicals could then start a chain reaction with other molecules that do have electrons, which can eventually cause the death of the cell. Antioxidants give up an electron themselves (become “reduced”), so the free radical becomes neutralized; the antioxidant is useful because it is stable and doesn’t care if it loses the electron.
Maybe this analogy will help you understand the process more. Imagine if I lost a sock, so I stole my roommates’ sock, who would then steal his friends’ sock, which would then propagate until a civil war started because someone lost their sock. Obviously, you would want to prevent this; an antioxidant is basically something that comes in and gives me a sock, so the chain reaction never happens.
As a matter of fact, antioxidants have been proven to prevent and protect against macular degeneration (basically aging of the eyes) in the form of Vitamin C and E, and Beta-carotene in people who have a high risk of the disease.
Antioxidants help protect against macular degeneration.
Image source: Bill Oxford
Types of Antioxidants
Like superhero comics (DC, Marvel, and everything else), Antioxidants can be grouped into three types: Enzymatic, Vitamin, and Phytochemical.
Enzymatic antioxidants are antioxidants that are produced by the body, and some of the most important ones are catalases (which turn hydrogen peroxide, something that will kill you very quickly, to water and oxygen). Basically, imagine enzymatic antioxidants as the form of antioxidant which aren’t well known or appreciated, but are very important because they turn useless compounds to essential ones. (Kind of like me. Take note, editors!)
The more commonly known vitamin antioxidants include Vitamins A, C, and E , which function to improve the immune system, protect skin and other areas from UV damage, and maintain blood vessel support, respectively. Others include beta-carotene (usually found in carrots), and serve to prevent degeneration of vision. These are the types of antioxidants that typically aren’t synthesized by the body, so you need to eat food with these antioxidants to feed your body. So yes, when your mom told you to eat your carrots, it’s not because she happened to have them left over and didn’t want them to go to waste; they’re actually useful!
Phytochemical antioxidants are plant-based antioxidants naturally made to protect themselves from damage, and people who eat these plants also gain these protections (so kind of like reverse kryptonite). Most natural foods (most fruits, some dairy products) have these kinds of antioxidants, but processed foods (chips, soda, most of what my roommate eats) typically have these stripped out. Yet another reason why it’s important to eat organic!
Summary
In conclusion, while having a healthy amount of antioxidants in your diet won’t exactly make you super strong, they are necessary to make sure you don’t end up getting sick from a weak immune system, UV damage, etc. It isn’t a matter of “eating them will make you like Superman”, but rather “not eating them will kill you, you dummy.” So, remember to eat your carrots!
