What's the Big Deal About Antioxidants?

For our regular readers, you know that we take a skeptical approach toward the conventional wisdom around fitness and nutrition.  In fact, it seems like, the louder the media shouts about the "latest discovery" in weight loss, the more likely I am to just snort and change the channel.

Weep for our society...

Enter antioxidants.  These precious chemicals have bolstered blueberries to "super food" status.  Ask even the most casually health-conscious person on the street and they'll tell you, "antioxidants are really good for you; you should eat a bunch of them."  A few of the better informed might even mention those pesky free radicals, which "everyone" knows are the little Darth Vaders of human microbiology.  All of this consensus makes me a little itchy.  Perhaps that's because I've seen "Idiocracy" one too many times and the mantra is starting to sound like, "it's got 'lectrolytes! That's what plants crave!"  But I digress...

So we decided to do what we do: get smart on the subject.  This is not simple stuff.  Any of our readers who are medical professionals are welcome to pick apart the fine points, but this is our best effort at making the issue digestible to mere mortals like us.  

First, a few words about oxidation:

We're all familiar with the most common form of oxidation.  It's the process that causes iron to rust.  Oxygen is an interesting atom, and O2 an even more interesting molecule.  These guys have a free electron (or in the case of O2, two electrons) that make them very attractive to other atoms and molecules passing by.  The chemical bonding of intrinsic oxygen to these atoms turns them into other substances (like water, for instance), leaving the host compound behind.  

Put simply: oxidation is the loss of oxygen atoms or O2 molecules from a substance and the creation of new substances as a result.

The Oxygen Paradox: That which does not kill you...

Free radicals if I ever saw one...

Okay, so we know that all living organisms on Earth depend on oxygen to exist.  But, it turns out that oxygen is also chronically toxic to each and every one of those life forms as well.  Bummer, huh?  As a result, we puny Earthlings have generated all kinds of mechanisms to help deal with the harmful effects.  Plants have evolved to produce polyphenols and Vitamin C, for instance.  Humans, too, have developed complex systems to combat the negative effects of oxidation.  A combination of enzymes and chemicals, like uric acid, constantly work to render freed oxygen atoms and molecules into harmless substances, such as water.  

Okay, got it.  Oxidation = "bad," right?

Ahh, if only it were that simple.  Many oxidation processes are beneficial, even critical, to humans.  Oxidation can signal damaged cells to die off and be replaced by fresh, healthy ones.  And oxidation is a critical component to generating ATP, that all-important metabolic fuel that powers our cells and allows us to lift all the heavy things.  So, what's the difference between "good" oxidation and "bad" oxidation?

The bulk of it all seems to come down to two main components.  One is the amount of oxygen being released through oxidation (enter: oxidative stress), and the other is where the oxidation is taking place.  

In healthy cells, supported by the proper combination of enzymes and metabolic fuel, oxidation is just a fact of life.  And, with these components doing their jobs, it's no more dramatic than taking out the trash.  But, if the body undergoes an oxidative stressor, then the process is accelerated and the cell can lose its ability to keep up.  And, just like the trash, it starts to get ugly if things get backed up.  When there is too much oxygen for the cell mechanism to handle, it gets picked up by other substances and becomes things like hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or Superoxide.  These guys are free radicals, who roam around and do damage to other cells.  What kind of damage are we talking about?  Inflammation, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and many others.  Free radicals are also considered to be the primary operator in many symptoms of aging in general.

Some cells seem particularly prone to the type of oxidation which results in some of the nastier free radicals.  Low-density Lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol appears to be one of these.  We already know that LDL particles are the troublesome ones when it comes to factors promoting heart disease; now imagine them  also being cancer promoters as well.  I think we all agree: cancer sucks!

Okay, a quick recap of the facts thus far: 

- Oxygen is critical to life, but it's also chronically toxic

- The human body already knows this, and has several mechanisms to deal with it

- Oxidation isn't inherently bad, but can become a problem if accelerated or occurs in some types of cells, such as LDL cholesterol particles, among others

- When the oxidation management process is overwhelmed, free radicals are the result

- Cancer sucks

What promotes oxidative stress?

There wasn't as much information on this subject as I would have liked, but there are a number of common environmental stressors out there.  Not surprisingly: air pollution, hypoxia (as from high-altitude activity), smoking, and alcohol use all seem to increase cellular oxidation as well as inhibit the body's mechanisms to manage it.  But here's one you weren't ready for: exercise!  That's right, a natural and inevitable outcome of exercise is significant oxidative stress.  In fact, it's particularly dramatic if you're involved in the kind of training that produces adaptation, such as progressive weightlifting.  Now, before you freak out and throw away your running shoes, it also appears that exercise promotes the activity of our little oxidation-fighting buddies, balancing out the equation over time.  

Coming back to dietary antioxidants

Foods high in antioxidant properties (including Vitamins A, C, and E, as well as polyphenols)
touted for their ability to fight off these free radicals.  Remember how people once thought (and many still do) that eating fat translated directly into body fat?  Or how we once believed dietary cholesterol directly pours into your blood as serum cholesterol? We know better now.  It's not that simple.  The digestive system deconstructs, remakes, and employs these components as it sees fit.  This principle holds true with dietary antioxidants.  The dietary studies of the effect on the body of these supplements on free radicals are decidedly lukewarm.  In fact, there's some evidence that Vitamin E supplements have the effect of are inhibiting the kind of muscular recovery and adaptation that strength athletes are looking for. 

When you think about it, it makes sense.  The body works to bind those oxygen molecules in ways that makes them harmless.  The presence of free radicals occurs only after the oxygen has bonded in a harmful way.  The damage is done.  Antioxidant supplements don't run through the blood stream kicking free radical butt; they were proactive agents in the plant cells as part of their own defense mechanism. Besides, what if they did work?  Since oxidation is normal and often beneficial, how would we tell mister Vitamin C which processes to interfere with and which ones to allow?  

So, what am I going to do about it?

All of this, after a lot of reading and research, leads to a somewhat puzzling place.  Detection of the presence and amount of free radicals in the body seems impractical until some kind of negative condition develops.  The science doesn't seem to establish specific benefits of dietary antioxidants in preventing the little buggers.  My body seems to have the situation under control in ways I can only begin to understand.  I'm sure as heck not going to stop exercising, as those benefits still seem to greatly outweigh the risks.  So, I'm left to influence the few things I can.  It's somewhat frustrating that I can't offer a set of recommendations with the kind of confidence you might be hoping for; the best I can do is some variant of a nutritional "serenity prayer".

Here's what I know I can control:

   - Limit the influence of oxidative stress where I can through clean air and low-to-no alcohol use.

   - Stop smoking if you feel this is something you are ready to do.

   - Monitor and reduce my LDL cholesterol, particularly in relation to my HDL levels, through a continued diet that limits refined carbohydrates.

   - Support cellular health through the continued inclusion of healthy fats and proteins from whole sources

   - Support the production of growth hormones and protein turnover through a regular weight training regimen to stave off the metabolic slowdown associated with aging

   - Continue eating antioxidant rich foods, such as blueberries, because I enjoy them and they support the rest of my nutrition plan, whether or not they provide any particular antioxidant benefit

   - Continue to avoid excessive supplementation based on magical claims of health benefits

   - Continue to keep track of my overall health through regular doctor visits that include lifestyle and longevity blood panels

   - Given the above, trust my body to take care of the rest

Marketers, sales people, and those that just blithely regurgitate what they're told love to extoll the virtues of their pet products.  More often than not, these are overblown.  Be a skeptic.  Ask questions.  Make connections.  And look for evidence-based material before making drastic changes (or spending money) in things that will affect your health.

Do you have something that makes you "itchy"?  Don't know where to start?  Feel free to leave a comment with your question and we'll do our best to source the best information we can for you.