Antioxidants. Free radicals. Oxidants. Oxidative damage. ORAC. Cellular damage. Aging. Anti-aging.
The common denominator in the process of ageing and its associated diseases is called oxidative damage. Oxygen is the basis of all plant and animal life. But oxygen is chemically reactive and in normal biochemical reactions oxygen can become unstable and capable of oxidising neighbouring molecules. This can lead to cellular damage that triggers cancer, inflammation, and ageing. We need chemicals capable to disarm those free oxidising radicals, we need antioxidants!
What are antioxidants?
Antioxidants protect our cells from damage caused by free radicals. Antioxidants are found in plants; plants produce these chemicals – so called phytochemicals, to protect themselves and eating those plants they also protect us against diseases. Although there are several enzyme systems within the body that scavenge free radicals, the principal antioxidants are vitamin E (α-tocopherol), vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and B-carotene. The body cannot manufacture these micronutrients, so they must be supplied in the diet. There are also numerous other rather unknown antioxidants such as lycopene, lutein, bioflavonoids although they are not essential nutrients, they are highly beneficial.
What are those free radicals?
Free radicals, or oxidants, are unstable molecules which react easily with essential molecules of our body, including DNA, leading to cell damage and homeostatic disruption. Targets of free radicals include all kinds of molecules in the body. The potential cellular damage which they can cause is minimised by the antioxidants. However, when the antioxidant neutralizes a free radical it becomes inactive. Therefore, we need to continuously supply our body with antioxidants.
Free radicals are derived either from normal essential metabolic processes in our body or from external sources such as exposure to X-rays, cigarette smoking, air pollutants, industrial chemicals, frying and barbequing food. Free radicals from anything burnt, fried fat, or burnt meat, damage the body resulting in ageing and disease.
How antioxidants work together
The synergy of antioxidants is vital. You need a combination of vitamins E and C and betacarotene, as well as glutathione, anthocyanidins, lipoic acid and co-enzyme Q10 to disarm oxidants properly. An example, how antioxidants work together: A free radical, for example from chips, is disarmed by vitamin E, which is recycled by vitamin C, which is recycled by glutathione, which is recycled by anthocyanidins. Co-enzyme Q-10, betacarotene and lipoic acid also help. These are the essential antioxidants that work together. You need all of them to do the job properly and that is why the principle of synergy is a fundamental aspect of the optimum nutrition approach.
How to get antioxidants into your diet?
An important dietary source of antioxidant nutrients is fruit and vegetable, and spices. It is now well established that people consuming generous amounts of these foods have a lower risk of chronic disease than do those whose intake is small.
The total antioxidant power of a food can be measured by a test developed by Tufts University in Boston. The test terminates a food’s ‘oxygen radical absorbance capacity’, known as ORAC for short. Each food can be assessed a certain number of ORAC units. Foods that score high in these units are especially helpful in countering free-radical damage in your body. We should aim 3,500 ORAC units a day, although 5,000 – 6,000 will give you even more protection against ageing.
Here are some of the food items that per 100 gram have the highest ORAC values:
| Food 100 gr | ORAC | Food 100 gr | ORAC |
| Gloves, ground | 314,446 | Sorghum, bran | 240,000 |
| Sumac, bran, raw | 312,400 | Oregano, dried | 200,129 |
| Cinnamon, ground | 267,536 | Turmeric, ground | 159,227 |
As mentioned, we should aim for 6,000 units a day and not start eating 100 grams of grounded gloves a day. The chart below shows the ORAC of different foods that you can easily incorporate into your daily diet. Each serving contains around 2,000 ORAC units, so by choosing at least three of these daily you will hit your anti-ageing score of 6,000.
6,000 ORACs a day keep ageing away:
| Food | Food |
| 1/3 tsp ground cinnamon | 1/2 tsp dried oregano |
| 1/2 tsp ground turmeric | 1/5 cup blueberries |
| Half a pear, grapefruit or pear | 1/2 cup blackcurrants, blackberries raspberries or strawberries |
| 1/2 cup cherries | An orange or apple |
| 4 pieces of dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) | 7 walnut halves |
| 8 pecan halves | 1/4 cup pistachio nuts |
| 1/2 cup cooked lentils | 1/3 medium avocado |
| 1/2 cup red cabbage | 1 cup cooked kidney beans |
Or another easy way to incorporate the antioxidants in your diet is to follow this list, where ORAC values of foods are for 100 grams of each food item:
| Food 100 gr | ORAC | Food 100 gr | ORAC |
| Blueberries, raw | 6,552 | Plums, raw | 6,259 |
| Garlic, raw | 5,346 | Raspberries, raw | 4,882 |
| Almonds | 4,454 | Apples, raw, with skin | 4,275 |
| Red wine | 3,873 | Strawberries, raw | 3,577 |
| Red cabbage, boiled | 3,145 | Broccoli, boiled | 2,386 |
| Oats, uncooked | 2,169 | Sweet potato, cooked | 2,115 |
| Rocket | 1,904 | Oranges, raw | 1,819 |
| Radishes, raw | 1,736 | Spinach, raw | 1,515 |
| Green leaf lettuce | 1,447 | Bananas, raw | 879 |
A balance between free radicals and antioxidants is necessary for proper physiological function. The balance between your intake of antioxidants and your expose to free radicals may literally be the balance between life and death. If free radicals overwhelm the body’s ability to regulate them, a condition known as oxidative stress ensues. Thus, in a metabolically active tissue cell in a healthy body with an adequate dietary intake, damage to tissue will be minimal and most of the damage occurring will be repaired.
You can tip the scales in your favour by making simple changes to your diet. Would you like to know more how to incorporate antioxidants into your diet? Get in touch with me. Thank you for reading.
