Oxygen vs Antioxidants ??

[juantonwan]

I often hear or read about the need for antioxidants to prevent such things as cancer. Doctors recommend eating lots of foods rich in antioxidants.

 

But then I see articles such as this on http://www.cancersalves.com/checklist/red_blood.html that talks about too little oxygen not being healthy and the need for lots of oxygen.

 

I even see water machines that are supposed to add more oxygen to your drinking water.

 

So is there a fine line between the amount of oxygen we need?

 

Or do antioxidants work in a different way?

 

Do we need a lot of oxygen? Should we have oxygen generators or hundreds of plants in our homes? Should we practice breathing techniques and taking deep breaths? Where do antioxidants come into play while doing all this?

[insane_alien]

right first off, you don't need an oxygen generator or millions of plants in you home, nor do you need oxygenated water. your stomach makes for a very poor aquatic lung as anyone who has drowned could tell you, or not cause they're dead.

 

there is plenty of oxygen in this fantastic substance known as air. as long as you house has a bit of ventilation like its required to by law, you won't die.

 

and yes, your body likes oxygen to live. now. oxygen is a reactive chemical. so, as you breathe it and it gets circulated around your body, it oxidises a lot of things. now, the important part here is that appart from oxidising the things it is supposed to be oxidizing to keep you alive, it also oxidises some things that would rather be unoxidised.

 

the role of antioxidants is that they get oxidised before the things that shouldn't be oxidised and after the things that should be oxidised. thats pretty much it.

 

you can think of anti-oxidants as a sacrificial anode(google if you don't know) for your body

[Mr Skeptic]

Oxygen is highly toxic to all life forms. Us aerobic life forms have enzymes to help keep us safe from the more dangerous oxidative molecules which form in the presence of oxygen. Free radicals are particularly reactive molecules which will cheerfully oxidize our body. Antioxidants are molecules that can react quickly with free radicals, neutralizing them before they can harm us. As for oxygen, despite its toxicity, we also need it to live. The oxygen in our bloodstream is kept at a fairly low, but constant level, and for the most part bound up in hemoglobin until needed. We get plenty of oxygen by breathing. Extra oxygen is only helpful under certain circumstances, but constantly receiving extra oxygen will probably cause you much harm.

[juantonwan]

So is there a general rule for breathing techniques i.e how much oxygen we should intake;

 

and is there a general rule for specific foods and/or how much to eat for antioxidants. Basically how much antioxidants should be consumed daily. I am sure it varies by height, weight, body etc. But is there a general antioxidant intake rule?

[insane_alien]

not really. if you are still alive right now, then i'm pretty sure you've got the hang of breathing right.

 

and as long as you have a nutritionally balanced diet you'll get all the antioxidants you need and then some.

[John Cuthber]

"I even see water machines that are supposed to add more oxygen to your drinking water."

Actually, these machines are designed to add money to the sellers' bank accounts.

[CharonY]

Antioxidants do not work on the level on which we need oxygen. If they would do that (e.g. by inhibiting the electron transfer to oxygen) they would kill you.

However, during normal aerobic respiration reactive oxygen species are formed, especially be leaking of electrons out of the quinon pool, that are potentially harmful. In theory antioxidants are supposed to counter effects at this point.

Whether they really do work well outside of controlled lab situations, I do not know. Maybe there are some clinical trials around, but I am not actively aware of them.