Attention! Antioxidants Are for Detox and More!

After studying up on glutathione and CoQ10, I became very intrigued by the power of antioxidants and wanted to learn more. Surprisingly, I didn’t find many resources out there, but I did find a fantastic book by Dr. Lester Packer and Carol Colman.

The book, The Antioxidant Miracle: Put Lipoic Acid, CoQ10, Pycnogenol, and Vitamins E and C to Work for You, was published in 1999 but I have found that much of the information therein is not widely known. 

In this blog, I’m going to summarize a few interesting points from that book.

What Are Antioxidants?

Most people know that antioxidants are good for you and they are in blueberries, and that’s about it. 

But antioxidants actually come in many forms and do a really important job, especially when it comes to detoxification and anti-aging.

An anti-oxidant fights against oxidative damage that can be brought on by free radicals. Free radicals are produced naturally in the body through certain processes, so some amount is normal. Your body also naturally produces some antioxidants, and others come from food.

This is all well and good until there are too many free radicals or too few antioxidants. Then oxidative damage can and will occur.

Let’s break this down a little more:

Free Radicals

A free radical is a chemical species capable of independent existence with one or more unpaired electrons, thus rendering it unstable and needing to right itself. It may have lost an electron in a normal physiological process in the body, or from toxic exposure. (source)

If an antioxidant does come along to stabilize it, it can steal an electron from your tissue or even DNA, thus causing damage.

Some free radicals are reactive oxygen species (ROS)-reactive chemicals containing oxygen. ROS are normal by-products of oxygen processing and play a signaling role in the body. However, uncontrolled ROS can cause cellular damage. (source)

“A free radical can be defined as any molecular species capable of independent existence that contains an unpaired electron in an atomic orbital. The presence of an unpaired electron results in certain common properties that are shared by most radicals. Many radicals are unstable and highly reactive. They can either donate an electron to or accept an electron from other molecules, therefore behaving as oxidants or reductants. 

The most important oxygen-containing free radicals in many disease states are hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide, oxygen singlet, hypochlorite, nitric oxide radical, and peroxynitrite radical. These are highly reactive species, capable in the nucleus, and in the membranes of cells of damaging biologically relevant molecules such as DNA, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids.

Free radicals attack important macromolecules leading to cell damage and homeostatic disruption. Targets of free radicals include all kinds of molecules in the body. Among them, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins are the major targets.”

Lobo, V et al. “Free radicals, antioxidants and functional foods: Impact on human health.” Pharmacognosy reviews vol. 4,8 (2010): 118-26. doi:10.4103/0973-7847.70902 (source)

Oxidative Damage Signs & Symptoms 

Oxidative stress is damage to the body as a result of uncontrolled free radicals. Short-term oxidative stress can occur from strenuous exercise, trauma or infection.

Oxidative damage is associated with many diseases, including: (source)

• Diabetes

• Cancer

• Heart disease

• Parkinson’s disease

• Alzheimer’s disease

If you have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, or with high blood pressure, take note. These are warning bells. Other signs and symptoms could be:

• Decline of mental focus or ability

• Loss of sense of taste 

• Poor recovery from exercise

• Skin rapidly aging

Beyond normal free radical production in the body, there are other factors that really ramp up free radical creation, including: 

• UV damage

• Smoking

• Excess exercise (Ironman type training)

• Environmental pollutants

• Toxic mold

• Radiation

Antioxidants

Yes, your body will naturally produce some amount of free radicals, and yes, endogenous antioxidant production will decline with age, but this is something you can do about it!

An antioxidant is a free radical-scavenging molecule stable capable of donating an electron to a rampaging free radical and neutralize it, thus reducing its capacity to damage. 

“Antioxidants act as radical scavenger, hydrogen donor, electron donor, peroxide decomposer, singlet oxygen quencher, enzyme inhibitor, synergist, and metal-chelating agents. Both enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants exist in the intracellular and extracellular environment to detoxify ROS.” (source)

Your Antioxidants Support Each Other in a Network

Getting back to the inspiration for this blog, The Antioxidant Miracle, some antioxidants work together in a supportive network. So instead of thinking of a like basic math:

Free radical + antioxidant = end of story

Think of it more like a football team…or a symphony, depending on your hobbies!

Let’s Meet the Network: Lipoic Acid, CoEzyme Q10, Vitamin E, C & Glutathione

1. Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA)

• A fatty acid that helps turn sugars into energy, and works as an antioxidant 

• Made by the body, and found in small amounts in potato, red meat and spinach

• Production declines with age

• Lipoic acid boosts all the other network antioxidants & recycle itself

• Beneficial for blood sugar management and neuropathy

• Breaks down sugar for ATP energy production

• Discovered in 1937, recognized as an antioxidant in 1989

• An effective way to boost glutathione levels

• Helps prevent cataracts 

• Good for heart health

• Benefits immunity

• Prevents brain aging (source)

2. Vitamin E

• Benefits the brain, skin and heart

• Benefits arthritis and inflammation

• Helps prevent prostate, lung and breast cancers

• Found in foods such as nuts, barley and leafy greens

• Identified in 1922

• Found in 1954 to prevent oxidation of fats in our body, related to heart disease

• Speak to your doctor about use if you have heart disease

• Good for immunity, vision,& exercise recovery

• Can cross-cell membranes

• Is transported by lipoproteins

• Comes in a few supplement forms

3. Vitamin C

• Protects DNA of cells and sperm

• Regenerates vitamin E

• Works with vitamin E to prevent heart disease

• Essential for collagen production

• Immune-supportive

• Cancer-protective

• Depleted by strenuous exercise

• Humans and only 4 other animals don’t produce their own vitamin C!

• Beneficial in diabetes and cataracts

Here’s a cool factoid from The Antioxidant Miracle, 

“Since the oxided form of vitamin C is almost identical to glucose, it gets a free ride on the glucose express and is also rapidly taken into the cells. Within the cells, oxidized vitamin C is recycled into antioxidant vitamin C and is returned to the plasma to protect proteins and lipoproteins.”

4. CoQ10

• Recycles vitamin E

• Rejuvenates brain cells

• Made by the body; production declines with age

• Negatively affected by toxins

• Quenches free radicals made in energy production

• Protects lipids from free radical damage

• Protects skin from UV radiation along with other antioxidants

• Energizes the heart

• Is depleted by statin drugs

• Benefits gum disease 

• Benefits blood sugar handling- monitor any diabetes medications

5. Glutathione

• The most abundant water-soluble antioxidant in the body

• Recycles vitamin C

• Detoxifies pollutants; supports the liver

• Supports immunity

• Supports protein synthesis  

• Can reduce chronic inflammation

• Depleted by strenuous exercise and alcohol consumption 

• Benefits longevity

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• Hi-Potency Multivitamin (with C and E)

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Find the products here: https://functionaldetoxproducts.com/antioxidants 

And you can use this coupon code to try any or all of them one time! Coupon code: ANTIOX15

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Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP, is an acupuncturist turned functional health coach and has worked with thousands of clients since 2004.

She is the founder of FunctionalDetoxProducts.com and the author of The Ultimate Guide to Toxic Mold Recovery: Take Back Your Home Health & Life, available in audiobook, Kindle and paperback on Amazon.