Free Radicals and Antioxidants

For this month I thought we better had another look at Free Radicals and Antioxidants since it is such an important....but also such little understood process.

Please note that once again we are facing the duality principle and simply said….too many Free Radicals can be as harmful as too many Antioxidants.

And by now we know that everything in physical reality has an opposite. Protons and electrons….Free Radicals and Antioxidants. A proton on it's own is not very happy and neither is an electron. In a ‘whole' (we could even say a ‘healthy and holy') atom, there will be a perfect balance between electrons and protons, negative and positive. As soon as that balance is disturbed, the atom becomes ‘unstable'. If there are too many Free Radicals or too many Antioxidants, conditions in the body are out of balance and unstable. The body cannot be ‘whole', the person cannot be healthy and holy. ….there can be no harmony of body, mind and soul.

Let us have a look at how these two opposites – Free Radicals and Antioxidants are necessary for human life and how important it is that they are in balance and harmony with each other.

In order to explain and illustrate this point I will use articles from the internet. I will shorten the articles and simplify them. The interested reader can visit those web sites and read the articles in their full lengths….and many others if they so wish.

Free Radicals are classed as unpaired electrons. Electrons always want to be in pairs…a bit like human beings. If they are not in pairs they may become ‘radical' and steal another man's wife….and then that ‘whole' family falls apart and creates new Radicals.

Well, it is a bit like that. Antioxidants, on the other hand are ‘electron donors'. They can supply electrons without becoming Radicals themselves. So now nobody has to run around and steal… because partners (electrons) are there in excess.

Should there be too many partners (electrons) the balance tips to the other side. Can you see……it is always the same: everything in material reality, or the material Universe, has to be in balance and harmony.

Free Radicals and their formation

http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Antioxidants/Introduction.html

Atoms are most stable in the ground state. An atom is considered to be "ground" when every electron in the outermost shell has a complimentary electron that spins in the opposite direction. By definition a free radical is any atom (e.g. oxygen, nitrogen) with at least one unpaired electron in the outermost shell, and is capable of independent existence (13). A free radical is easily formed when a covalent bond between entities is broken and one electron remains with each newly formed atom (13). Free radicals are highly reactive due to the presence of unpaired electron (s). The following literature review addresses only radicals with an oxygen center. Any free radical involving oxygen can be referred to as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Oxygen centered free radicals contain two unpaired electrons in the outer shell. When free radicals steal an electron from a surrounding compound or molecule a new free radical is formed in its place. In turn the newly formed radical then looks to return to its ground state by stealing electrons with antiparallel spins from cellular structures or molecules. Thus the chain reaction continues and can be "thousand of events long." (7).

CATALYSTS

All transition metals, with the exception of copper contain one electron in their outermost shell and can be considered free radicals. Copper has a full outer shell, but loses and gains electrons very easily making itself a free radical (9). In addition iron has the ability to gain and lose electrons (i.e. (Fe2+«Fe3+) very easily. This property makes iron and copper two common catalysts of oxidation reactions. Iron is major component of red blood cells (RBC). A possible hypothesis is that the stress encountered during may break down RBC releasing free iron. The release of iron can be detrimental to cellular membranes because of the pro-oxidation effects it can have. Zinc only exists in one valence (Zn2+) and does not catalyze free radical formation. Zinc may actually act to stop radical formation by displacing those metals that do have more than one valence.

IMPORTANCE OF FREE RADICALS

This section has focused only on the negatives associated with free radical production. However, free radicals are naturally produced by some systems within the body and have beneficial effects that cannot be overlooked. The immune system is the main body system that utilizes free radicals. Foreign invaders or damaged tissue is marked with free radicals by the immune system. This allows for determination of which tissue need to be removed from the body . Because of this some question the need for antioxidant supplementation, as they believe supplementation can actually decrease the effectiveness of the immune system.

ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSES

Antioxidant means "against oxidation." Antioxidants work to protect lipids from peroxidation by radicals. Antioxidants are effective because they are willing to give up their own electrons to free radicals. When a free radical gains the electron from an antioxidant it no longer needs to attack the cell and the chain reaction of oxidation is broken (4). After donating an electron an antioxidant becomes a free radical by definition. Antioxidants in this state are not harmful because they have the ability to accommodate the change in electrons without becoming reactive. The human body has an elaborate antioxidant defense system. Antioxidants are manufactured within the body and can also be extracted from the food humans eat such as fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, meats, and oil. There are two lines of antioxidant defense within the cell. The first line, found in the fat-soluble cellular membrane consists of vitamin E, beta-carotene, and coenzyme Q (10). Of these, vitamin E is considered the most potent chain breaking antioxidant within the membrane of the cell. Inside the cell water soluble antioxidant scavengers are present. These include vitamin C, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase (SD), and catalase (4). Only those antioxidants that are commonly supplemented (vitamins A, C, E and the mineral selenium) are addressed in the literature review that follows.

REFERENCES

Too many Antioxidants?

http://medicalreporter.health.org/tmr0296/antiox.html

The importance of antioxidants can't be overstated. Although they're not "magic bullets," they do slow down the aging process and protect against many diseases. In one study, for instance, men whose diet was high in flavenoids had two-thirds less heart disease than those whose flavenoid intake was lowest. These men were found to drink tea instead of coffee, and tea is very high in flavenoids.

Vitamin E has been shown to block buildup of plaque in arteries by defeating the oxidation of LDL (the "bad" type of cholesterol). It also seems to help slow the progression of plaque that's already formed. It's being studied for possible protective effects against arthritis. Good sources of E are whole grains, wheat germ, leafy green vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Glutathione is an antioxidant that the body produces, and it's linked to blood pressure, the immune system, and cholesterol levels. Researchers think that getting enough cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, and broccoli, may raise glutathione levels in the body.

Vitamin C works hard in many ways, but it also scavenges free radicals. It appears to cut risk of cancer, and help raise HDL (our "good" cholesterol). Excellent foods to choose are bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, strawberries, kiwi fruits, and citrus fruits.

We hear a lot about beta-carotene, but less often about the family of carotenoids , of which beta-carotene is only one. There are hundreds of carotenoids, and it seems likely that some may be as important as, if not more important than, beta-carotene. In fact, new research shows it's quite likely that health benefits are due to many carotenoids working together to produce antioxidant protection. Lycopene, for instance, is a powerful carotenoid that may protect against heart disease. Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, but have little beta-carotene. Other carotenoids found in green leafy vegetables are being studied for protective effects against eye disease.

What about selenium? It's been seen that people living in areas where the soil is rich in selenium have less cancer. That's not proof that selenium protects against cancer, but it's got researchers working hard to find out. Selenium is found in grains, so if the soil is poor, selenium may be absent. But it's also found in seafood, liver and kidneys, eggs and tuna, so there are other food choices available.

Should we take supplements of antioxidants? Well, there's a lot of scientific arguing about supplement use, and for good reason. Many of the studies that have shown antioxidant benefits used supplements to achieve their effect. Also, medicine has extended our life expectancy, but not necessarily our health -- some researchers believe that we can't get enough antioxidants in our diet to stay healthy to an extended age. Also, as we age, our bodies don't absorb nutrients from food as well; supplements could provide a boost.

On the other hand, nutrients in food are balanced, and those in pills are not. It's entirely possible to load up on beta-carotene and ignore other carotenoids, such as lycopene, that beta-carotene needs to produce its protective effects.

It can even be dangerous to your health. As little as 25,000 IUs of vitamin A daily can damage the liver. There is some evidence that excess vitamin E can lead to stroke, and that large doses of vitamin C can cause gallstones.

Antioxidants Are Double-Edged Sword

You can find antioxidant supplements and enriched foods at any grocery store, but recent research indicates that the body needs certain levels and types of free radicals to perform its biochemical reactions. Case in point: Scientists at Cornell University have reported that higher-than-normal amounts of selenium may promote the development of type II diabetes. Mice which were given elevated levels of a selenium-dependent antioxidant enzyme developed difficulties in insulin control, which led to problems regulating blood sugar. So, while oxidation may be associated with tissue damage, it appears that neutralizing too many free radicals interferes with healthy body function. It's something to think about before you reach for a multivitamin or supplement...

http://chemistry.about.com/b/a/092421.htm

Excessive Antioxidant Activity Risk Factor For Type II Diabetes

Too much glutathione peroxidase activity contributes to development of type II diabetes.

ITHACA , N.Y. -- A study by researchers at Cornell University suggests that higher-than-normal amounts of a selenium-containing enzyme could promote type 2 diabetes. The researchers found that mice with elevated levels of the antioxidant enzyme develop the precursors of diabetes at much higher rates than did control mice.

Selenium, a common dietary supplement, is an antioxidant, materials that help mop up harmful free radicals, molecules that can damage cell membranes and genetic material and contribute to the development of cancer and heart disease. Many of the benefits of selenium are related to its role in the production of glutathione peroxidase (GP), an antioxidant enzyme that helps detoxify the body.

"Although free radicals are known to be harmful and antioxidants helpful, our study suggests that we actually need some free radicals to regulate insulin sensitivity," says Xingen Lei, associate professor of animal science at Cornell and an author of the study, published in the June 15 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , and now available online. The lead author is James McClung, who received his Ph.D. from Cornell this spring and is now a diabetes researcher at a U.S. Army laboratory in Boston .

... McClung notes that high levels of GP appear to promote diabetes by mopping up too many free radicals, which are needed to help switch insulin signaling on and off in glucose (blood sugar) metabolism.

There are many, many more articles available on the internet dealing with the special topic of Free Radicals and Antioxidants….BUT, as we can see above, there is a lot of controversy about these two opposites,

In general we can find that most researchers agree it may be better to take natural sources of antioxidants than artificially created ones. You know my attitude, it is better to take ‘divinely balanced' supplements (from food sources) than those supplements put together by the ‘clever human mind.'

The above articles seem to support this view.

Have a great time.

Hans, 24.07.2006