Antioxidants are a class of molecules that defend us against destructive free radicals. Free radicals are volatile molecules that damage our cells and DNA and, when left unchecked, cause premature aging and diseases like diabetes or even cancer.
Unfortunately, free radicals are everywhere. When we breathe, convert food to energy, or exercise, they are created in our bodies. Other external sources of free radicals are radiation, air pollution, and cigarette smoke. While we can’t avoid free radicals, antioxidants can reduce their numbers.
Research over decades has found a link between eating foods rich in antioxidants and protection from disease. Our bodies also make their own antioxidants – such as coenzyme Q10 and glutathione. As we age, we are more likely to develop a coenzyme Q10 or glutathione deficiency – that’s why many people include Luma Nutrition antioxidant supplements in their diet.
Here are six ways antioxidants can help you live a longer, healthier life.
1. Decrease Oxidative Stress
Antioxidants delay or prevent the damage free radicals cause to our cells and DNA, decreasing oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is associated with various diseases, including autoimmune disorders, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and more.
Oxidative stress also causes inflammation – a key factor in heart disease and mood disorders like anxiety and depression. Although the body will do its best to produce enough antioxidants to combat free radicals, what the body can make on its own isn’t enough. It’s important to eat a diet rich in antioxidants or take the necessary supplements to reduce oxidative stress.
2. Improve Mental Health
While the brain as a whole is significantly affected by an excess of free radicals, the hippocampus takes the biggest hit. Oxidative stress in the hippocampus can affect learning and memory functions, cause mood disorders, and even inhibit the growth of brain cells.
A growing body of evidence suggests consuming foods or supplements high in antioxidants as a complementary treatment can substantially reduce depression and anxiety.
3. Improve Brain Health
Neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease have been linked to neuron loss in the brain, which can be caused by high levels of oxidative stress.
Studies have found that antioxidant vitamin deficiencies are linked with higher rates of cognitive decline. In one study, patients over the age of 65 who were given beta-carotene supplements experienced cognitive benefits that lasted well over 15 years.
4. Support Healthy Aging
Inflammation, oxidative stress, and aging are thought to be intrinsically linked. The theory of oxi-inflamm-aging proposes that extended periods of oxidative stress affect regulatory systems as we age.
Immune, nervous, and endocrine systems that are chronically inflamed lead to more oxidative stress, and so the vicious cycle continues – increasing the rate of mortality and age-related disease.
Antioxidants are also thought to preserve the body’s telomeres and prevent them from shortening. Telomeres protect our DNA from the damage caused by inflammation and oxidative stress.
Eating antioxidant-rich foods and taking supplements may delay the health conditions associated with aging by reducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and protecting our DNA.
5. Fight Heart Disease
When cholesterol is oxidized by free radicals, the risk of heart disease increases because the oxidation of cholesterol contributes to plaque buildup in the arteries, which causes them to become clogged. Clogged arteries can slow down or stop blood flow to the entire body.
Because antioxidants help keep free radicals in check, they can help prevent or slow down the progress of heart disease – they do this by reducing internal inflammation and preventing the oxidation of fat.
6. Support Eye Health
As we age, we experience degeneration of the eye’s macula, which leads to age-related eye disease. In people 50 years and older, age-related eye disease is the leading cause of vision loss.
While it does not lead to complete blindness, our central vision – which helps us read, drive, recognize faces, and perform many other everyday tasks – begins to deteriorate.
The National Eye Institute and the National Institutes for Health conducted several large clinical trials to investigate the benefits of antioxidant supplements for age-related macular degeneration. One of these trials found that supplementation of single antioxidants reduced the risk of developing age-related eye disease by 17 percent, and a combination of antioxidants reduced it by a whopping 25 percent.
The Bottom Line
To put it simply, antioxidants neutralize free radicals – the volatile molecules that damage our cells and DNA – leading to premature aging and disease.
Free radicals are found throughout the body, and, unfortunately, there is no escaping them. However, the neutralizing effect antioxidants have on free radicals improves a wide range of bodily systems and processes.
Since age, inflammation, and oxidative stress are interlinked, antioxidants can help the nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system perform optimally as we age. However, a diet lacking antioxidants comes with a greater risk of developing diseases like cancer, stroke, heart disease, and cataracts.