What do antioxidants do

Yerba mate is a type of tea with powerful benefits for your health and weight. Here are 8 ways that drinking yerba mate can improve your health. Berries are among the healthiest and most nutritious foods on earth. Here are 11 ways that eating berries can improve your health. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. What they are Free radicals Food sources Antioxidant types Supplements Bottom line You may have heard a lot of talk about antioxidants.

However, few people know what they are or how they work. This article tells you everything you need to know about antioxidants. What are antioxidants? How free radicals function. Antioxidants in foods. Types of dietary antioxidants. Should you take antioxidant supplements? The bottom line. Read this next. Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph. Should You Take Antioxidant Supplements? Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below.

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A high intake of beta-carotene, for example, has been linked to an increased risk of lung cancer in smokers. A high dose of vitamin E has been found to increase the risk of prostate cancer , and the use of some antioxidant supplements has been linked to a greater risk of tumor growth.

Antioxidant supplements may also interact with some medications. It is important to speak with a health provider before using any of these products. Overall, research has not proven that taking any particular antioxidant as a supplement or through a food can protect against a disease.

There may be some benefit for people at risk of age-related macular degeneration, but it is essential to seek advice from a doctor about whether to use supplements, and which ones to use. Free radicals have been linked to a range of diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and vision loss, but this does not mean that an increased intake of antioxidants will prevent these diseases. Antioxidants from artificial sources may increase the risk of some health problems.

As a result, it is important to seek out natural sources of antioxidants, in the form of a healthful diet. Consuming fruits and vegetables has been linked to a lower rate of chronic diseases, and antioxidants may play a role. However, it is unlikely that consuming added antioxidants, especially in processed foods, will provide significant benefits. In addition, anyone considering taking antioxidant supplements should speak to a health provider first.

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Hot water bottles can help to relieve aches and pains. Antioxidants came to public attention in the s, when scientists began to understand that free radical damage was involved in the early stages of artery-clogging atherosclerosis. It was also linked to cancer , vision loss, and a host of other chronic conditions. Some studies showed that people with low intakes of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables were at greater risk for developing these chronic conditions than were people who ate plenty of those foods.

Clinical trials began testing the impact of single substances in supplement form, especially beta-carotene and vitamin E, as weapons against chronic diseases. Supplement makers touted the disease-fighting properties of all sorts of antioxidants. The research results were mixed, but most did not find the hoped-for benefits. Antioxidants are still added to breakfast cereals, sports bars, energy drinks, and other processed foods , and they are promoted as additives that can prevent heart disease, cancer, cataracts, memory loss, and other conditions.

Randomized placebo-controlled trials, which can provide the strongest evidence, offer little support that taking vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, or other single antioxidants provides substantial protection against heart disease, cancer, or other chronic conditions. The results of the largest trials have been mostly negative.

A modest effect of vitamin E has been found in some studies but more research is needed. A study from the Journal of Respiratory Research found that different isoforms of vitamin E called tocopherols had opposing effects on lung function. Lung function was tested using spirometric parameters: higher parameters are indicative of increased lung function, while lower parameters are indicative of decreased lung function.

The study found that higher serum levels of alpha-tocopherol were associated with higher spirometric parameters and that high serum levels of gamma-tocopherol were associated with lower spirometric parameters.

Though the study was observational in nature, it confirmed the mechanistic pathway of alpha- and gamma-tocopherol in mice studies. When it comes to cancer prevention, the picture remains inconclusive for antioxidant supplements.

Few trials have gone on long enough to provide an adequate test for cancer. High-dose antioxidant supplements can also interfere with medicines. Vitamin E supplements can have a blood-thinning effect and increase the risk of bleeding in people who are already taking blood-thinning medicines. Some studies have suggested that taking antioxidant supplements during cancer treatment might interfere with the effectiveness of the treatment. Inform your doctor if starting supplements of any kind.

One possible reason why many studies on antioxidant supplements do not show a health benefit is because antioxidants tend to work best in combination with other nutrients, plant chemicals, and even other antioxidants.

For example, a cup of fresh strawberries contains about 80 mg of vitamin C, a nutrient classified as having high antioxidant activity.

Polyphenols also have many other chemical properties besides their ability to serve as antioxidants. There is a question if a nutrient with antioxidant activity can cause the opposite effect with pro-oxidant activity if too much is taken. This is why using an antioxidant supplement with a single isolated substance may not be an effective strategy for everyone. Differences in the amount and type of antioxidants in foods versus those in supplements might also influence their effects.

For example, there are eight chemical forms of vitamin E present in foods. However, vitamin E supplements typically only include one form, alpha-tocopherol. Epidemiological prospective studies show that higher intakes of antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables, and legumes are associated with a lower risk of chronic oxidative stress-related diseases like cardiovascular diseases , cancer, and deaths from all causes.

The following are nutrients with antioxidant activity and the foods in which they are found:. Excessive free radicals contribute to chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease, cognitive decline, and vision loss. Keep in mind that most of the trials conducted have had fundamental limitations due to their relatively short duration and inclusion of people with existing disease.

At the same time, abundant evidence suggests that eating whole in fruits , vegetables , and whole grains —all rich in networks of naturally occurring antioxidants and their helper molecules—provides protection against many scourges of aging.

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