Antioxidants

[positron]

Ive heard a lot about these lately, that thery're really good for u and are present in lots of stuff like tea.

 

But what exactly are they and how are they good for a person? Is it really that bad if you dont get a lot of intake?

 

To me, the name 'antioxidant' sounds quite like a corrosion inhibitor, yet the body cannot corrode (well, not that i know of). Am i even on the right track?

[ecoli]

on the right track, yes. From what I understand, antioxidants bind to molecules with free radicals, which can do harm to body cells.

[CharonY]

During (aerobic) respiration reactive oxygen species (ROS) are formed (e.g. by the Fenton reaction). Of these hydroxyl radicals are probably the most reactive ones. The more agressive species directly act on e.g. proteins, DNA and lipids causing aggregation (cross-linking), fragmentations, deletions etc.

In fact it is a kind of corrosion, as in most cases corrosions are simple oxidation reactions, too.

 

Antioxidants however, either prevent the formation of these ROS or directly detoxify them. As such it is believed that antioxidants should help preventing cell damage (and thus aging), but I am not sure how large the impact of the intake of antioxidants really is. The body of course produces a number of enzymes involved in detoxification (e.g. catalases, peroxidases and superoxide dismutases..).

[Skye]

Some antioxidants are also vitamins, eg. vitamin C. In the case of these you should get a reasonable amount of them because they are vitamins.

 

For other antioxidants the results of clinical trials have been mixed. It's important to distinguish between randomised clinical trials and epidemiological studies. There have been studies showing that people who have high intake of various antioxidant supplements have lower incidences of heart disease and cancer. But it's hard to tell whether this is because of the antioxidants or whether the kind of person that takes supplements is in generally better health.

[chuinhen]

http://www.scienceforums.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20121