Are you using a broad spectrum antioxidant supplement to protect yourself from free radicals? There are more than 1,110 different families of free radicals so it doesn’t make sense to rely on just a couple of antioxidants to fight aging and sickness. To get as many types of antioxidants into your body as possible, nutritionists recommend eating a wide variety of foods which are rich in antioxidants. The same applies to antioxidant supplements. Some potent ingredients to include in your antioxidant arsenal are:

Coenzyme Q10
This facilitates the work of enzymes and it is important for cell growth and energy production in each cell in the body. Coenzyme Q10 is found in every cell, with the highest concentration being in the heart and the liver. It is a potent antioxidant which helps the immune system work better, and has shown promising results in the treatment of cancer and parkinson’s disease. People with chronic diseases have been found to have low levels of coenzyme Q10. Coenzyme Q10 levels also decrease with age.

Selenium
An antioxidant and anti-carcinogen which attacks destructive cells in the body and boosts the immune system. Selenium works together with Vitamin E to gather free radicals which can cause cell mutation, some cancers, and the effects of aging. This trace mineral is important to healthy muscles, nerves and blood vessels, which is why it is used to treat cardiac-vascular disease, sexual dysfunction, infertility, menopausal problems and skin disorders.

Vitamin E
“Vitamin E” is the collective name for a group of fat-soluble compounds with distinctive antioxidant activities. Antioxidants protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals, which are molecules that contain an unshared electron. Unshared electrons are highly energetic and react rapidly with oxygen to form reactive oxygen species (ROS). Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that stops the production of ROS formed when fat undergoes oxidation. Plant oils such as soya, corn and olive oil are the richest sources of Vitamin E. Other good sources include nuts and seeds, and wheatgerm.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A is also known as retinol. It promotes good vision; helps form and maintain healthy skin and mucus linings, teeth and skeletal and soft tissue, and strengthens immunity to infections. Vitamin A helps cells differentiate, an essential part of cell reproduction. Cells that are not fully differentiated are more likely to undergo pre-cancerous changes. Good sources of vitamin A include liver, dairy products, eggs, and oily fish (such as mackerel).

Vitamin C
Known also as ascorbic acid, Vitamin C has long been known to be a powerful antioxidant. It is necessary to form collagen that, amongst other functions, helps keep the skin firm. Vitamin C also slows down the visible signs of aging.

Zinc
Zinc is an essential mineral that is required by every cell in the human body. It facilitates wound healing, which may help diabetics. Zinc reduces the length and severity of colds, canker sores, sore throats, and skin injuries, including acne. It can also help eye problems. It is also believed to be effective in fighting auto-immune diseases, and inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and fibromyalgia.

Potassium
Potassium is involved in nerve function, muscle control, blood pressure, maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in body cells, and releasing energy from protein, fat, and carbohydrates during metabolism. This mineral plays a key role in cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle contraction, making it an important nutrient for normal heart, kidney, digestive, and muscular function. Potassium is found in many foods, especially meat, milk, fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, citrus fruit, molasses, and fish.

Turmeric Root Extract
Turmeric is a spice whose active ingredient is curcumin. It is an antioxidant which can reduce inflammation and the pain associated with arthritis, colitis and other inflammatory diseases. Curcumin prevents the spread of harmful amyloid plaques found in the brain of Alzheimer’s sufferers. These plaques have a key role in symptoms such as memory loss and mental impairment. Studies indicate that turmeric slows the growth and spread of existing cancerous tumors. Communities which consume turmeric regularly have been observed to have low incidences of certain kinds of cancer.

Green Tea Extract
The active ingredients in green tea extract are polyphenols in the form of flavinoids like catechins and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Polyphenols, flavinoids, catechins and EGCG are powerful antioxidants that appear to interfere with and reduce the spread of certain types of cancer cells. The antioxidant activity of EGCG in green tea extract is said to be up to 100 times more powerful than that of vitamin C or E.

Rosemary Leaf Extract
This is derived from the natural anti-oxidants present in rosemary, an anti-bacterial anti-oxidant that works synergistically with Vitamin E. Therapeutic compounds found in rosemary include tannins, flavonoids, caffeic acid derivatives such as rosmarinic acid, diterpenes such as carnosol or carnosic acid, and essential oil. Rosmarinic acid has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and may relieve pain. The diterpenes are thought to be potent antioxidants and carnosol has been shown to help prevent tumors in mice.

White Pine Bark Extract
Pine bark extract, commercially known as Pycnogenol, has an antioxidant potency comparable to Vitamins E and C, and lipoic acid. It plays a part in extending the lifetime of vitamin C in the body, prolonging its beneficial effects as an antioxidant. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, found that pycnogenol also suppresses the production of NO (nitric oxide). Excess NO has been linked to inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease.

Quercetin
Quercetin is a phytochemical which gives the skin of apples and red onions their colour. It is a powerful antioxidant which research indicates may help to prevent cancer, especially prostate cancer, and inhibit agents such as LDL (bad cholesterol) from causing oxidative damage to the body. Quercetin is considered a phytoestrogen. a plant substance with similar functions as that of estrogen. Some phytoestrogens are believed also to have antiestrogenic effects that might reduce the risks of certain cancers. Quercetin was found to have this antiestrogenic activity by inhibiting breast cancer cells in a test tube. Quercetin is also a natural anti-histamine, and anti-inflammatory.

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA)
In numerous studies, alpha lipoic acid has shown both antioxidant and detoxification properties. Besides protecting cells from oxidative damage, ALA has demonstrated chelating properties, binding with heavy metals to remove them from the bloodstream. ALA also prevents glycosylation, which occurs from the abnormal attachment of a sugar to a protein, a potentially cancer-causing process.

N-Acetyl Cysteine
NAC helps the body synthesise glutathione, an important antioxidant. The antioxidant activity of n-acetyl cysteine helps protect the liver from the adverse effects of certain toxic chemicals, and it has even been used to treat liver failure. NAC also protects lung tissue. Double-blind research has found that NAC supplements improved symptoms and prevented recurrences in people with chronic bronchitis. In addition, supplementation with NAC has been shown to reduce the proliferation of certain cells lining the colon and may reduce the risk of colon cancer in people with recurrent polyps in the colon.

Don’t know where to find an antioxidant supplement which contains all these potent antioxidants? Cascading Revenol packs in a punch with these antioxidants and much more besides. The word ‘cascading’ refers to this formulation’s unique ability to support antioxidant-recycling capabilities. Get Cascading Revenol here at wholesale price, and give your body the protection it needs against free radicals.

Posted: July 15th, 2009 under Antioxidants, Health Supplements.
Comments: 6

More than 1,110 different families of free radicals have been identified, so isn’t it unrealistic to expect just one or two antioxidants to protect you against all free radicals, the cause of disease and aging? Health professionals advocate eating a wide variety of foods which are rich in antioxidants to get as many types of antioxidants into you as possible. Include brightly-coloured fruits and vegetables in your diet as they generally have high antioxidant levels. See food as your medicine.

Some people find it difficult to consume all the vegetables, fruits, seeds and grains necessary to obtain a broad spectrum of free-radical fighting antioxidants. They may have poor appetite due to illness or they may simply find eating so much fibre inconvenient. If you want to take an antioxidant supplement, make sure it packs in a wide range of antioxidants – just like in a healthy and balanced diet – for optimal protection from free radical attacks.

Why isn’t it enough to take just one or two antioxidants, say selenium or Vitamin A, to fight free radical damage? Well, antioxidants act in very different ways. Some may act upon cellular cytoplasm (the jelly-like substance that fills the cell), while others work in the cell nuclei (the “brain” of the cell which helps control growth, reproduction, eating and movement). Other antioxidants work in the liquid portion of the bloodstream or within particles of lipoprotein (molecules made of proteins and fat) in the blood. As one antioxidant binds and defeats a free radical, another is attacking a different free-radical enemy.

Rally the troops! Send the posse after free radicals!

Posted: July 13th, 2009 under Antioxidants, Health Basics 101.
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Michael Jackson’s memorial service earlier this week brought back fond memories of my father. He was similar to MJ in many ways. My dad was a generous man, with a matching appetite for life. In his younger days, he danced, although his footwork may not have been as fancy as MJ. He enjoyed his food, loved entertaining and was always ready to buy a meal for anyone who needed one. He loved to drive and explore new places. When he had the opportunity, he rode horses, an unusual activity for people in our society then. Although he was a businessman, he had an artistic streak too. Like Michael Jackson, he enjoyed making his own music, playing a certain stringed instrument (I think it was called the er-hu) while he closed his eyes in reverie, sawing away happily at the strings.

Pa was a self-made man who sacrificed much and worked hard to build up a business. When I was a teenager, he provided me with the money I needed to tour Europe. Then when I was a university undergraduate, he gave my mom, sister and I an all-expenses paid trip to Europe and Britain. He denied himself the luxury of vacation and travelling, as his priority was always to ensure that his family was well taken care of.

Sadly, Pa’s health deteriorated considerably from around his fifties. He had diabetes and had to give up many of his favourite dishes. The next three decades saw his health worsening. A stroke rendered half of his body almost paralysed. He developed all kinds of heart problems and was hospitalised many times. Most of the final year of his life was spent in hospital, hooked up to machines and tubes. He couldn’t walk, eat or drink on his own, or even move his bowels normally. His liver struggled with the toxic overload of the drugs. His kidneys failed and, soon, other major organs followed.

My dad had great faith in doctors. He would always take whatever they prescribed to him, no questions asked. He absolutely refused to try health supplements and wouldn’t even eat brown rice. He believed the doctors knew best, even though some of the drugs prescribed to him were unnecessary and even dangerous. My family dismissed one of his most ‘trusted’ doctors not long before he died, when we discovered that the drugs he had put him on were damaging his brain, making him delusional and incoherent. Unfortunately, it was too late.

Many drugs have side-effects. If taken for too long, drugs can be toxic to the organs and harm the rest of the body as well. Some drugs, like the powerful pre-surgery sleep-inducing drug Diprivan which Michael Jackson apparently used, are so potent that they can cause death if used incorrectly.

If only my dad had been willing to wean himself off a lifetime dependency on drugs and extreme medical treatments and, instead, let nutritional health supplements detoxify, nourish, fortify and heal his body, I believe he would have enjoyed better health and quality of life. Why did he have to be so stubborn!

Posted: July 11th, 2009 under Healing Foods, Health Supplements.
Comments: none