Finding the Fountain of Youth: Antioxidants and Anti-Aging
Antioxidants are defined as molecules that can prevent, or at least slow, the oxidation of other, usually dangerous, molecules. Oxidation is a chemical process that culminates in the release of electrons, and these broken-down atoms become free radicals in the body. Antioxidants destroy the free radicals, preventing them from setting off other chain reactions and creating more free radicals. Without free radicals, the body would be nothing more than a time bomb: oxidation is so natural, so scheduled, that the human lifespan would be governed solely by the time needed for cells to be outnumbered by free radicals. Luckily, just as evolution produced free radicals, it produced antioxidants, and in a world of technological advances, the scales have been tipped. The battle is being fought more and more on the field of vitamins and supplements.
Anti-Aging
If the body is viewed as a time bomb, than diseases are the triggers. In a body without antioxidants, disease would run rampant, uninhibited; it would damage everything in its path, and the body could do nothing about it. The immune system would require simply, since it would have no re-enforcement; free radicals would multiply, because even if the immune system were able to break one down, those pieces would set of new chain reactions.
Oxidative stress in the body is responsible for numerous diseases on its own. Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, diabetes and arthritis are all side-effects of the breakdown of molecules, and the free radicals themselves can cause various types of cancer. While a low-calorie diet can help to cleanse the body of many toxic agents, oxidation will still occur, breaking down good molecules and forging them into weapons.
The brain is exponentially vulnerable to injuries from oxidation. Because of this, antioxidants are often used in medications to treat brain damage. From strokes to concussions, these vitamins can help prevent the breakdown of neurons from oxidation, and cleanse the area of free radicals that could damage neurotransmitters and other necessary molecules.
Antioxidants can also prevent cancer by cleansing the body of free radicals. Cancer is a growth of bad, foreign cells, and many of these cells are formed by free radicals left over from oxidation. These vitamins can also reduce the risk of various forms of heart disease. While physical exercise increases the body's natural production of antioxidants, there is no substantial evidence that additional supplements will help repair muscles after strenuous activity, although they could help to reduce the amount of damage done in the first place.
Anti-Eating
Diet alone is the most important factor on the battlefield of oxidation. Without the consumption of the right antioxidants, the body has no chance against free radicals. In a world of preservatives and processed foods, the deficiency of antioxidants in the body is a respectable fear, a fear that was nonexistent in the farming and hunting civilizations of the past.
Vitamin C, E and A are the three most popular antioxidants. These vitamins are found in a plethora of food, from meats to fruits and vegetables to oils and chocolate and coffee. While vitamin A can be toxic if over-ingested, for most vitamins, the risk is in the absence of consumption. Processed foods contain far less vitamins than fresh foods, and prolonged cooking can destroy any nutritional value in vegetables and fruit. While supplements are a good way of making up for any deficiencies, they cannot be the only source of antioxidants, and single-source supplements are less effective than supplements that include vitamins from across the spectrum.
