Oxidative stress and antioxidants: what you want to know.

New York is one of the world's largest energy consumers. Countless amounts of energy are consumed there every day. But imagine if a power plant in New York were to break down. Half of New York would be in disarray.

Let's say your body works like New York City. Our bodies also contain power plants called mitochondria, which provide your body with energy. When a large portion of your mitochondria are broken, our body is also in disarray. For example, there are too few antioxidants or too many free radicals, which can cause a variety of health conditions.

Mitochondria: the basics

Okay. Before we dive into the actual technical details, let's first look at the basics by asking a few questions.

What do these power plants do and why are they so important?

Mitochondria are known as the cell's powerhouses. They provide your body with energy. The commonly known formula for energy production in mitochondria is as follows:

Glucose (sugar) + O ₂ (oxygen) = energy (in the form of ATP) + CO ₂ (carbon dioxide) + H ₂ O (water).

Personally, I find the term "powerhouse of the cell" a bit of a stretch. Mitochondria do much more than that. For a long time, it was thought that the _CO2 and _H2O produced by the mitochondrion were merely "waste products." Nowadays, there's increasing evidence that both substances have more functions than previously thought.

But for now, the term “cell powerhouse” will suffice.

Our mitochondria can also malfunction. This is called "mitochondrial swelling." You don't want that. A large number of chronic complaints can be caused by mitochondrial dysfunction.

Mitochondria: How Do They Break Down?

This picture above certainly looks very complicated, but luckily we can simplify it a bit. This is a cross-section of the mitochondrion.

The mitochondrion houses the electron transport chain, as it's called in a complex term. These are essentially complexes I through IV (see numbers in the image).

The purpose of this chain is to pump protons (the H ⁺ 's in the picture) over complexes I through IV, so that our body can make energy (in the form of ATP) from them.

To ensure that protons can be pumped effectively, there must be sufficient electrons in the complexes. You can think of electrons as gatekeepers that allow protons to pass through, so they can ultimately be converted into energy.

But how do mitochondria break down?

I'll explain this below! Electrons always like to travel in groups. If an electron stays in one place for too long during its journey along the electron transport chain, it can lose its group and react with oxygen. This can make the electron unstable and form a free radical, which can destroy the mitochondrion. These free radicals can then steal electrons and form even more free radicals. This creates a vicious cycle.

Free radicals aren't always bad. They can also help fight viruses and bacteria. However, when too many free radicals develop, the mitochondria are destroyed and oxidative stress occurs, which can lead to a wide range of health issues.

An excess amount of free radicals can be caused by two things:

1. The body is exposed to too many toxic stressors.

2. The body can no longer neutralize the excess free radicals present.

When either of these two things happens, symptoms can arise. In principle, a large number of "natural" therapies are also based on this principle.

Toxic stressors: these are what we want to keep an eye on

Toxic stressors, or toxins, can come from many different sources, such as pollution in the air we breathe, chemicals in food and water, smoking, alcohol, medications, heavy metals, and psychological stress. All these toxins promote the production of free radicals and are therefore best avoided.

Below are some tips to ensure you keep the number of toxins as low as possible.

• Install a HEPA air filter in your home/bedroom
• Create a whole foods diet consisting of the following:
  • Grass-fed meat
  • Wild fish
  • Cheeses and milk
  • Organic fruit and (fermented) vegetables
• Stop smoking.
• Stop/reduce alcohol and drug use.
• Avoid heavy metals.
• Avoid harmful E-numbers .

Antioxidants: the saviors in need

Antioxidants can counteract this process of oxidative stress. Antioxidants donate an electron to a free radical without becoming unstable and aggressive themselves. This neutralizes the free radical and stops the chain reaction. Antioxidants produced by the body are called endogenous antioxidants, while antioxidants from food and supplements are exogenous.

Sources of antioxidants

Want to optimally protect your body? Eat plenty of natural, unprocessed foods. Herbs, berries, vegetables, nuts, and fruits are rich sources of antioxidants.

Many supplements also often contain a large amount of antioxidants and can therefore be beneficial for health in that area.

But why do many supplements contain antioxidants?

Some substances require a fatty substance to be absorbed by the body. Take vitamin D, for example. In supplement form, this substance is always combined with an oil. Unfortunately, oil, due to its unsaturated fatty acids, is susceptible to oxidation. Therefore, an antioxidant is added to keep the oil "fresh."

That's also why we added rosemary extract to our vitamin D3K2 supplement. Rosemary extract is an antioxidant and thus protects the extra virgin olive oil in our vitamin D3K2 supplement from oxidation.

Omega-3 supplements should always include an antioxidant, as they also contain unsaturated fatty acids that can oxidize. We're fortunate that our omega-3 supplement contains a natural antioxidant, astaxanthin (which gives the supplement its red color). Because there's so much of this substance in our supplement, the fatty acids are barely oxidized.

Summary

Our mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells. These mitochondria produce free radicals that can damage our mitochondria. An excess of free radicals can be caused by an excessive supply of toxins.

Antioxidants are there to neutralize these free radicals. These are produced by our bodies (endogenously), but can also be obtained from the outside world through food and supplements (exogenously).

Below is a list of ways to best maintain the balance between free radicals and antioxidants:

• Install a HEPA air filter in your home/bedroom
• Stop smoking.
• Stop/reduce alcohol and drug use.
• Avoid heavy metals.
• Avoid harmful E-numbers .