A few moments ago a friendly neighbour told me to eat some antioxidants to get rid of a cold that I’ve had for over a month. Jeesh, it really seems that antioxidants have truly become the be all and end all to health! Not only do these guys fight against cancer and aging, but now, apparently they can also fight viruses and bacteria. I didn’t really know what to say to him. He was just trying to be friendly. But still, I couldn’t help but ask – “Why would antioxidants that protect DNA, help to kill the viral infection that is making me cough?”
I got a blank stare in reply. This was promptly followed by an awkward silence; and a slow retreat. I promptly went to my computer; sat down, and wrote this article. It’s time to explain what the devil anti-oxidants are and why they are not the key to killing my cold.
What are anti-oxidants?
When our stomach breaks up things in the body that we need for energy, like food, it also makes free radicals. They are a kind of by-product of metabolism. Free radicals are very reactive, and they like to bind to anything they can get their hands on. This includes DNA, proteins and fats. Once they bind to these things, especially DNA, they can damage them, which this can lead to cancer. As free radicals are naturally produced in our body we also have a natural defence mechanism to protect against them … anti-oxidants!
While our body naturally makes anti-oxidants, we can also get them from external sources, like fruits and vegetables. Famous anti-oxidants you may have heard of include: vitamin E, vitamin C, selenium, and B-carotene. Less famous anti-oxidants include glutathione. (It’s less famous, because the body naturally produces it, so pharmaceutical companies don’t often sell it to you.)
Both internal and external antioxidants get rid of the dangers of free radicals by attaching to them. This means that the free radical’s hands are full, so they can’t bind and destroy our DNA.
Most of the time there is a nice equilibrium between the free radicals and the anti-oxidants. But disease, smoking, pollutants in the air and radiation can increase the amount of free radicals that our bodies are exposed to, and that’s when trouble can strike. Studies have shown that as some cancers progress, the amount of free radicals in our system increase. This tells us that, in some cancers, there is a very close link to free radicals and cancer.
When it comes to cancer are anti-oxidants all that we dreamed they would be?
Studies using cell cultures (putting cells into a dish and watching the effects) have confirmed that antioxidants have anti-cancer qualities. Plus, more than 250 studies show that the more fruits and vegetables jam-packed with essential antioxidants that we eat, the lower our risk for getting cancer is. But there is some inconsistency. While cancers of the mouth and throat, lung, stomach, colon, and rectum show a pretty consistent reduced risk with high fruit and vegetable consumption, data for breast and prostate cancer, are less consistent.
And, studies also tell us that not all anti-oxidants are created equal. Different anti-oxidants help with different conditions. Selenium and vitamin E reduce the risk of colon and throat cancer. Foods rich in lycopene, such as yellow vegetables, and tomatoes, are linked with reducing the risk of prostate cancer. Garlic and onions, which have high levels of the antioxidant organosulfur, reduce gastrointestinal cancer risk.
Green, but not black tea, has been shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer by 20 percent. Eating foods rich in carotenoids, like carrots and green vegetables, can help reduce breast cancer risk, but don’t do much for reducing lung cancer.
So, they are all we dreamed they would be!?
No. Studies are telling us that antioxidants are not always good. B-carotene, while linked to reducing breast cancer when you consume it as a vegetable, is also linked with increased cancer-related deaths when consumed in supplement form. So how could they be good and bad? Well, we aren’t entirely sure, and that’s because we don’t exactly know what all of the different anti-oxidants do in the body, and why they affect different cancers in different ways.
All we know is that out of a whole bunch of people who ate a whole bunch of B-carotene in vegetables, some had a reduced chance of getting breast cancer, while another study found that when B-carotene was eaten in a supplement, they had an increased risk of dying from cancer.
Some scientists think that when we have a lot of B-carotene it increases free radical production, but at lower levels it is an anti-cancer fighter. Plus, there is a little more confusion because when B-carotene hangs around free radicals that have been made from cigarette smoke we know that B-carotene is cut up into many different unstable products. These products could trigger more free radical production, adding a whole new level of confusion. It seems that anti-oxidants act different around different free radicals and at different quantities. Vitamin A and E have also been shown to act like free radicals at higher doses and under different conditions.
While fruits and vegetables definitely deserve their place at the bottom of the food pyramid, it’s important that we don’t get sucked into the world of bigger is better when it comes to anti-oxidants. 200grams ain’t necessarily better than 1. Nature is pretty clever, and if fruits and vegetables have low quantities of particular anti-oxidants, maybe it’s better they stayed in those quantities.
Can anti-oxidants kill my cold?
And just in case there was confusion, anti-oxidants cannot protect us against colds and the flu. These diseases are caused by viruses or bacteria that get into our bodies, and start making a little home for themselves. Anti-oxidants can’t really bind to these buggers and kill them. In fact it’s quite the opposite. When our body tries to kill viruses and bacteria it will often make special kinds of free radicals that can fight against them.
I guess the war between anti-oxidants and free radicals isn’t one of good and evil. We need to make free radicals to break down energy, and kill bacteria, but we sure don’t need it to damage our DNA. And we need anti-oxidants to control the free radicals, but too much of a good thing can cause damage. Moderation is the key, and nothing is the be all and end all to health. So don’t trust the media, or any friendly neighbours. Trust me.
