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My Favorite Supplements III: Antioxidants

An antioxidant is an "anti" oxidant, or a molecule that can inhibit some of the inevitable oxidation of the cells in our body. They are like little bodyguards. What causes oxidation of cells? Among other things, aging, x-rays, strenuous exercise, stress, pollution, alcohol, smoking and unhealthy foods like trans fats. This oxidation of cells produces free radicals AKA oxidants AKA nasty little bullies which are actually renegade and unpaired electrons without a home looking for a spare electron to complete themselves. (Ahhhh, such the dysfunctional relationship, huh?) These homeless electrons are actually dystopian cellular marauders looking for a place to land, the Mad Maxes of our inner landscape, wearing death masks and wielding clubs and scowls and malintent.

In the meantime, while these unpaired electrons/free radicals are caroming about the body, they inflict damage to our protein and fat cells creating cellular "rust." You know how iron oxidizes in the presence of oxygen? Well, that's sort of what happens to our cells and we don't want that. Some rusting is inevitable of course, but we can take preventive action in the form of... Ta Da! Antioxidant foods and supplements which (in study after study) seem to disarm the free radicals and stabilize the cell DNA.

But first, since it is always preferable to get our antioxidants naturally and from food, where do we get antioxidants? Mostly from plants, the colorful ones, organic and ideally locally grown. We have pomegranate juice, tart cherry juice, all the dark leafy greens, all the colorful fruits like blackberries, blueberries and strawberries, citrus, melons, tomato and many others, like coffee, tea, dark chocolate and black rice.

The antioxidants in plants are called phytonutrients or polyphenol flavonoids which are words that have become fairly synonymous with the word antioxidant. There is a special class of antioxidants now called Super Foods  the antioxidant for the 21st century - certainly surpassing the quotidian antioxidants like vitamin C and E. Nothing wrong with Vitamins C and E, but they are not so exciting anymore and most of us in the field are bored with their ordinariness and tend to seek out all the new and sexy Super Foods appearing on the horizon. We're excitement junkies.

These elite Super Foods are judged by their ORAC rating which is an acronym for Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity and the higher this number, the better (allegedly) a free radical quencher it is. And here it gets kind of interesting and almost artful with oddly shaped and peculiar tasting rain forest fruits and unique and highly colored berries. (I would still like to taste a Durian, that exceedingly disgusting and smelly Asian fruit with a very high ORAC rating.) The Super Food with the highest ORAC rating in the world is the acai berry at 3,871. The second highest is resveratrol (grapes, wine) with an estimated ORAC of 3,000. Goji berries have an ORAC of 875 while Noni and Mangosteen are in the 500's.

But if you are 80% plant strong, as I would advise and maybe eat a handful of acai blueberries or red grapes every day then you have the whole antioxidant thing pretty well knocked, at least on the food level. Just make sure your lunch and dinner plate is "colorful." For example, last night for dinner I had tomato halves stuffed with basil, parmesan and drizzled with EVOO then broiled, probably 3 oz of a New York steak on the barbie (Yes, I eat meat whenever I "intuit" that my body wants it, but only organic and grass fed), tons of steamed green beans and corn on the cob. My plate was so bright and full of color and healthy looking that it made me very happy. (I know, get a life...)

But, as Jack La Lanne would have remonstrated, what about "insurance"? What are some good supplemental antioxidants or phytonutrients to take in addition to your exquisite diet? Just FYI, here are the Super Foods that I am currently taking:

1. Meriva-SR which is Thorne's curcumin (turmeric) supplement. There are so many research papers extolling the anti-cancer virtues of turmeric that I just can't not take a daily dose. I also do this: I will scramble a couple of eggs most mornings in coconut oil and then sprinkle turmeric all over. It's quite good actually. For some reason, the coconut and the turmeric are a very pleasing combination.
2. Repair Guard from Perque. Like brain food, this magnificent product is expensive. Each capsule contains 1,000 mgs of quercitin - a great antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, 80 mgs of pomegranate, a wonderful antioxidant polyphenol and 10 mgs of activated OPC which is a very well researched form of antioxidant from French pine bark.
3. Resveratrol Synergy from Designs for Health: Sort of a duplicate of the above, but I take it anyway. Each capsule has 200 mgs of trans-resveratrol and 200 mgs of quercitin.
4. I have just started experimenting with a product from Shaklee called Vivix: Cellular anti-aging tonic. It is a thick and tasty liquid made from what tastes like thousands of muscadine grapes plus thousands of other purple things like purple carrots and elderberry, smashed to pieces until just the purple fruity essence is left. It is a very condensed resveratrol product and feels very, very powerful. The first time I took it, I felt high and almost instantaneously felt an amazing spike in energy. I am not exaggerating. I have continued to take about 1 t. maybe 5 times a week in the morning and it still makes me high.
5. In addition to the above, I also take a scoop of a Super Food green powder called Boku in my smoothie every day.

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