FOOD
in our bodies: renegade oxygen molecules called oxi-
dants, and the body’s police force, known as antioxi-
dants, Although some oxidants can be beneficial and
are routinely spawned by normal metabolic process-
es, many are malevolent foreign invaders. You can
envisage destructive oxidants as wanton molecular
gangs that roam your body, mugging cells, ripping
their membranes corrupting their genetic material,
turning fat rancid and leaving cells to die. Of course,
the process is so gradual and internally painless, oc-
curring over years in incessant microsecond bursts of
destruction, that you don’t notice it until the cumu-
lative damage gives rise to what we call symptoms
of disease, including inflammation, deteriorating
vision, chest pain, poor concentration and cancer.
On the other hand, various antioxidants, put into
your body mostly by foods strive to protect cells
by fending off the destructive oxygen molecules.
Essentially, when the bad-guy oxidants consistently
out-number and outwit the good-guy antioxidants,
your body enters the “oxidative stress” zone and you
are in high disease-risk territory.
the waste products of ordinary metabolic process-
es, such as breathing and immune reactions. Thus,
some oxidants come from the environment and are
destructive, such as ionizing radiation, air pollut-
ants, toxic industrial chemicals, pesticides, cigarette
smoke and drugs. Obviously, you can influence
your fate mightily by not doing hazardous things
like smoking cigarettes and exposing yourself to
dangerous chemicals. You can also try to outwit the
oxidants to varying degrees by mounting a better
antioxidant defense against their assaults.
ENTER THE FOOD WARRIORS
One of the great revelation of the last few years, ac-
cording to a massive and growing body of evidence,
is that you may be able to eat your way out of this
dilemma, in so far as the boundaries of human
lifespan and genetics allow. You can supply your cells
with antioxidant food compounds that strikes down,
intercept and extinguish rampaging oxygen molecule
and even repair some of their damage. Foods, nota-
bly plant food – fruits and vegetables – are packed
with a variety of ferocious antioxidants. When you
BEWARE THE FREE RADICALS
eat these antioxidants, they are infused into your
Oxidants come in various forms and guises. The most tissue and fluids where they can resist the oxidant
notorious and best-studied are so-called oxygen free invasions. Scientists, now that they understand the
radicals. These molecules are charged up and look-
awesome potential powers of antioxidants, are busy
ing for trouble, They have lost one of the elections
analyzing food for their presence. The search has
that keep them chemically stable. In their frenetic
already turned up a bundle of potent plant antiox-
search for another one, they will try to grab it from
idants with exotic names like quercetin, lycopene,
anywhere, destroying healthy cells in their path and lutein and glutathione, as well as familiar nutrients,
creating still more gangs of free radicals in split-sec-
namely vitamins C and E, beta carotene and the
ond reactions that become out of-control chain
trace mineral selenium.
reactions. One of the laws of nature is that “radicals So persuasive is the new antioxidant research
beget radicals that beget more radicals, “explains Dr that William A. Pryor, Ph.D., head of biomedical
Sies. Oxygen free radicals can attack DNA, the genet- research at Louisiana State University, has called for
ic material of cells, causing them to mutate, which
the development and widespread use of a blood test
is a first stop on the path to cancer. Perhaps even
to reveal your “antioxidant status”, just as test now
more awesome free radicals attack the fatty parts of measures blood cholesterol. Such a test would mea-
cell membranes. Left defenseless without enough
sure the level of damaging oxidative activity in your
antioxidants, these fatty molecules become peroxi-
body and also whether you are eating enough neu-
dized, another word for rancid. This can completely
tralizing antioxidants. If you had high oxidative activ-
disrupt the cell membrane’s architecture, worse,
ity and low antioxidant intake, you would be judged
each peoxidizing any new fat molecule it contacts,
a high risk for disease and be advised to increase
fomenting a chain reaction that can continue until
your intake of antioxidants. Nothing you can do for
it is interrupted or exhausted, and ends up sullying
your health and survival is more important than
millions of other fat molecules.
constantly eating foods packed with disease-fighting
Where do oxidants come from? Some are simply
antioxidants. (For antioxidants in foods, see below)
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