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Thursday, October 24, 2013

Let Them Eat Cake! (and Raspberries) - The Power of Antioxidants

The Bad News

If you are tired, fat, sick, or wrinkled (and who's not at least one of these) you can blame post-prandial oxidation (which means after-meal corrosion of your body)--that's what's killing you a little at a time.  No matter how delicious your meal, much of what you eat causes what's known as "oxidative stress" or simply "oxidation". As we digest our food, we create harmful particles known as free radicals.  A free radical is a molecule with an unpaired electron which makes them very unstable.  Free radicals attack the nearest stable molecule "stealing" its electron. When the "attacked" molecule loses its electron, it becomes a free radical itself and attacks an adjacent molecule, beginning a chain reaction. Once the process is started, it can cascade, finally resulting in the disruption/death of living cells (i.e. oxidation) which is the primary cause of or major contributor to various serious illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, premature aging, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease etc. Free radicals are unavoidable and are created naturally as our bodies perform their everyday functions. In fact, they are actually necessary for some processes.

An example of oxidation at work is atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory response in which an artery wall thickens as a result of the accumulation of fatty materials called plaque.  The formation of plaque results from a few LDL particles getting stuck in your artery walls and their cholesterol content becoming oxidized. The damage caused by the oxidized LDL molecules triggers a cascade of immune responses which over time can produce a blockage. First the immune system sends specialized white blood cells (macrophages and T-lymphocytes) to absorb the oxidized LDL, forming specialized foam cells. These white blood cells are not able to process the oxidized LDL. They grow and then rupture, depositing a greater amount of oxidized cholesterol into the artery wall. This triggers more white blood cells, continuing the cycle. Eventually, the artery becomes inflamed. The cholesterol plaque causes the muscle cells to enlarge and form a hard cover over the affected area. This hard cover is what causes a narrowing of the artery, reducing blood flow and increasing blood pressure.  Eventually the plaque buildup can rupture and the blood's coagulating agents bind with the plaque to create blood clots.  These either block the artery or break away and get lodged in the heart or brain resulting in heart attacks and strokes.   Atherosclerosis usually occurs over many years and is asymptomatic until the consequences become serious enough to land you in the hospital or the morgue.  Check out this brief animation from medmovie.com showing the whole process.

The Good News

The destructive process of oxidation is mitigated in our bodies' digestion by molecules called ANTIoxidants.   Antioxidants are molecule that inhibit the oxidation of other molecules.  They do this by giving up an electron to the unstable free radicals thus being oxidized themselves.  Antioxidants are like self-sacrificing heroes that throw themselves on a live grenade to save their buddies.

Highly processed, high fat, and high sugar foods (e.g. burgers, steaks, ice cream, fries, cake, cookies, donuts etc.) have a big oxidizing effect in our bodies.  Foods high in antioxidants include honey, most legumes, fruits (e.g. apples, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, pomegranate, cherries, cranberries, grapes, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries etc.), vegetables (e.g. broccoli, cabbage, celery, onions, parsley etc.), chocolate, olive oil, coconut oil, and most whole grains.

BTW, not all parts of a fruit are created equal in antioxidants.  The peels (where the color is) have highest concentrations so where practical eat your fruit with the peels on.  Some people worry about pesticides etc. on fruit peels but that's one good reason that you have a liver--it gets rid of the small amounts of poisons and prevents any harm, so stop worrying about that and eat the skins.  Berries have the most antioxidants (reds, purples etc.).  

How Much Antioxidant-Rich Food Should You Eat, in What Form, and When?  

Eat fruits and vegetables at every meal and as snacks between meals.  Most oxidation occurs in the first two hours after food is eaten so if you eat a donut or a piece of cake you have about an hour before or after to eat antioxidant-rich foods to mitigate the damage caused by the oxidation.  I feel much better when I end my meal with vegetables (e.g. at a smorgasbord I start with dessert and end with a salad).  If you have a burger and fries go home and chase them with a carrot or an apple.

Fresh fruits or vegetables are best, but frozen food is very good at retaining nutrients if it is frozen quickly (flash freeze berries to minimize structural damage to their cells).  Canned fruit loses some because heat causes some damage but there are still anti-oxidants there.  Freeze-dried is great and even dehydrated is a good way to preserve fruits' and vegetables' antioxidant levels.  For instance, a recent study by Dr. Tory Parker compared antioxidant levels in green grapes, regular raisins, and golden raisins (grapes treated with antioxidants to prevent browning).  The golden raisins were almost as good as fresh grapes.  Regular raisins lost some of their antioxidants.  Where possible eat the whole fruit without peeling or juicing because you throw away most of the antioxidants and fiber.  Smoothies are a great way to get antioxidants because you get the WHOLE FRUIT.  If you must drink orange juice the pulpy kind is better.

Not all antioxidants are created equal. Some foods are better sources than others.  One way of comparing them is through their ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) value. These values, or scores, help to describe the neutralization capacity of any given antioxidant. ORAC values are important in determining which antioxidants to consume, but they are only a part of the cell health equation.  It is important not to base all antioxidant benefits on the ORAC score; if you do this, you may end up eating handfuls of cloves or hazelnuts without regard for carrots or leafy greens. Cloves and hazelnuts are wonderful antioxidants that should be incorporated into your diet, but carrots and leafy greens are important as well.  There are companies that make a lot of money selling supplements that promise ultra-doses of antioxidants, but you are much better off eating a variety of whole antioxidant-rich foods. Their diverse nutrients and enzymes are important for healthy cell-function because each one does a slightly different task within the human body; some are fat-soluble and others are water-soluble, they react with each other and with proteins, and they target different types of free-radicals.

BTW you can find antioxidant values at:  ORACvalues.com

Here are a few of the recipes from my blog that are antioxidant-rich:

Summary

  • De-emphasize meats, sugars, soft-drinks, fried foods etc.
  • Get fruit and/or vegetables with every meal
  • If you must eat treats, also eat fruits/vegetables within an hour or so
  • Don't bother with supplements get the whole food with all its goodness

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