Oxidative stress and antioxidants: here's what you want to know about it.
New York is one of the largest consumers of energy in the world. Countless amounts of energy are consumed there every day. But now imagine, a power plant in New York breaks down. Then half of New York would be in shambles.
Now let's say that your body works the same as New York. Our body also contains power plants called mitochondria. These supply your body with energy. The moment a large part of your mitochondria are "broken," our body is also in a mess. For example, at that point there are too few antioxidants or/and too many free radicals, which can cause a host of disease states.
Mitochondria: the basics
Okay. Before we dive into the really technical story, let's look at the basics through a few questions.
What do these power plants do and why are they so important?
Mitochondria are known as the power plants of the cell. They supply your body with energy. The generally known formula for energy production in mitochondria is as follows:
Glucose (sugar) + O2 (oxygen) = energy (in the form of ATP) +CO2 (carbon dioxide) +H2O(water).
Personally, I think the designation "power plants of the cell" is a bit of a stretch. Mitochondria actually do much more than that. Indeed, for a very long time it was thought that theCO2 and H2Oproduced by the mitochondrion were merely 'waste products'. Nowadays there is increasing evidence that both substances have more functions than previously thought.
But for now, the term "cell power plant" will do.
Our mitochondria can also start working less well. At that point you speak of "mitochondrial swelling. You don't want to have that. A mega number of chronic symptoms can come from mitochondrial dysfunction.
Mitochondria: how do they break down?
This picture above looks very complicated, of course, but fortunately we can simplify it a bit. Namely, this is a cross section of the mitochondrion.
In the mitochondrion there is the electron transport chain, as it is called with a difficult word. Basically, these are complexes I through IV (see numbers in figure).
The purpose of this chain is to pump protons (the H+'jes in the picture) across complexes I through VI so that our bodies can make energy (in the form of ATP) from them.
For protons to be pumped across properly, there must be enough electrons in the complexes. You can think of electrons as gatekeepers that make sure protons can get through so that energy can eventually be made from them.
But how do mitochondria break down?
I'm going to explain that to you! Electrons always like to travel in groups. The moment an electron stays in one place for too long on its journey in the electron transport chain, an electron may lose its group and then it starts to react with oxygen. As a result, the electron may become unstable and form a free radical, which can destroy the mitochondrion. These free radicals can then also "steal" electrons and form even more free radicals. This creates a vicious circle.
Free radicals are not always bad. In fact, they can also help fight viruses and bacteria. However, when there is an excess of free radicals, mitochondria break down and oxidative stress occurs, which in turn can cause a host of symptoms.
Excess free radicals can be created by two things:
1. The body is exposed to too many toxic stressors.
2. The body can no longer neutralize excess free radicals.
The moment one of these two things happens, symptoms may arise. Basically, a lot of "natural" medicine is also based on this principle.
Toxic stressors: these 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 of these toxins promote the production of free radicals and thus we prefer to avoid them.
Here are some tips to make sure you keep toxins as low as possible.
- Place a HEPA air filter in your home/bedroom
- Create a diet of whole foods consisting of the following
- Grass-fed meat
- Wild fish
- Cheeses and milk
- Organic(er) fruits and (fermented) vegetables
- Quit smoking.
- Stop/reduce alcohol and medication use.
- Avoid heavy metals.
- Avoid harmful e-numbers.
Antioxidants: the lifesavers
Antioxidants can counteract this process of oxidative stress. Antioxidants release 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 itself are called endogenous antioxidants, while antioxidants from food and supplements are exogenous.
Sources of antioxidants
Want to protect your body optimally? Then eat mostly lots 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 thus can be beneficial to health in that area.
But why do many supplements contain antioxidants?
Some substances need a fatty substance to be absorbed into the body. Take vitamin D as an example. You will always see this substance in supplement form in combination with an oil. Unfortunately, because of its unsaturated fatty acids, oil is prone to oxidation. Therefore, an antioxidant is added to keep the oil "fresh.
This is also the reason why rosemary extract has been added in our vitamin D3K2 supplement. Rosemary extract is an antioxidant and thus protects the extra virgin olive oil in our vitamin D3K2 supplement from oxidation.
With omega 3 supplements, an antioxidant should always be added as well, since this also involves unsaturated fatty acids that can oxidize. We are fortunate that our omega 3 supplement contains a natural antioxidant, astaxanthin (which gives the supplement its red color). Because so much of this substance is present in our supplement, the fatty acids can hardly oxidize.
Summary
Our mitochondria are the power plants of our cell. These mitochondria produce free radicals that can cause damage to our mitochondrion. An excess of free radicals can result from an excessive supply of toxins.
Antioxidants are there to neutralize these free radicals. These are produced by our bodies (endogenous), but can also be obtained from the outside world through food and supplements, for example (exogenous).
Below is a list of how to keep the balance so between free radicals and antioxidants as good as possible:
- Place a HEPA air filter in your home/bedroom
- Create a diet of whole foods consisting of the following
- Grass-fed meat
- Wild fish
- Cheeses and milk
- Organic(er) fruits and (fermented) vegetables
- Quit smoking.
- Stop/reduce alcohol and medication use.
- Avoid heavy metals.
- Avoid harmful e-numbers.