What Are Antioxidant Supplement And Their Function

In most community pharmacy shops, there are different types of supplements. Many claim to be antioxidant with different results. Some are marketed as anti ageing, anticancer, beauty supplement and so on and so forth. Covid-19 pandemic saw the surge in demand for vitamin C and zinc as a good antioxidant and immune booster for preventing the disease.

Dietary antioxidant supplement

Antioxidant

Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation. They are molecules stable enough to donate an electron to a free radical and neutralise it. They act like hydrogen donors, peroxide decomposers, singlet oxygen quenchers, enzyme inhibitors, etc. Another mechanism is removal of reactive oxygen species/reactive nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) inhibitors by quenching chain initiating catalysts. Antioxidants inhibit oxidation by stopping free radical reactions.

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Most antioxidants are produced in the body (glutathione, ubiquinone, etc). Others are found in the diet (vitamin C and B-carotene).

Oxidation

Oxidation is a chemical process whereby an atom, ion or molecule loses electrons. When cells use oxygen to generate energy, free radicals are created due to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by mitochondrial. These byproducts are reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RAS). Both are toxic and beneficial at low level , circular response and immune reaction.

Free Radicals

Free radicals are oxygen containing molecules and natural chemicals released by the body during normal metabolic processes or from external sources such as x-rays, ozone, etc. They have some good uses such as destroying viruses and bacteria.

Free radicals also lead to chain reactions that may damage the cells or organs in the body such as fatty tissue (lipid), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and proteins. These lead to conditions such as diabetes, inflammatory conditions, hypertension, ageing, etc.

Balance Between Antioxidant And Free Radicals

Few free radicals in the body can be handled by the body's natural antioxidant. A balance between free radicals and antioxidants is necessary for proper physiological functions of the body. The major cause of production of excess free radicals include sugar, fat, alcohol, harmful chemicals like pesticides, etc. If free radicals overwhelm the body's ability to regulate them, oxidative stress follows. Oxidative stress triggers a lot of human disease.

Are Antioxidant Supplement Effective

In order to prevent oxidative stress, some synthetic antioxidants were made. Unfortunately, evidence showed that they cause harm to the body. For example, they interact with certain anticancer medication and radiation therapy. That leaves us with dietary antioxidants.

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There is a strong debate if dietary antioxidants work. Especially those that have not been confirmed to be antioxidant. For example, vitamin C can quench a free radical by donating electrons to it. A phytochemical called hesperetin (found in orange and citrus fruits) restore vitamin C back to its active form. That means that most antioxidants work effectively in the presence of other chemicals. So getting them from food provides results.

This raised a very important question. Does vitamin C supplement that does not contain hesperetin which is very common act as an effective antioxidant? There is no answer to that yet as there are conflicting results. Most positive results are coming from companies in the antioxidant business.

The next question is if antioxidants found in the body may need dietary supplement support. Just like dietary antioxidants, there is still conflicting evidence on the effect of these supplements on health. More research is still needed.