What Are Anti-oxidants?

From a chemical point of view, anti-oxidants are substances that prevent or slow down oxidation reactions. Since there are many different oxidation reactions, from the oxidation of iron to rust, to the transformation of lipids to peroxides, there is no single substance that is a universal anti-oxidant. Each different oxidation reaction will have particular requirements to stop the reaction.

In addition, there can be no standard anti-oxidant test, because anti-oxidants are situation dependent. Each oxidation reaction responds to specific anti-oxidant compounds. While they have more similarities, oxidation reactions that injure our health still have many differences.

Many oxidation reactions are absolutely essential for our survival. Without them we would not survive for more than a few seconds. We use oxygen from the air to oxidize our food to provide the energy we need for our cells to function. Sometimes, however, those oxidation reactions release uncontrolled reactants called free radicals. Free radicals can and will react with many different important molecules, including lipids, proteins and DNA, damaging them in the process. For example, when a reaction occurs with LDL, low-density lipoprotein, an important serum cholesterol, the results (after a long, complicated evolution) are atherosclerosis or plaque in the arteries. Oxidative damage to other molecules can lead to many different diseases.

Dr. Waterhouse is Associate Professor of Enology at the University of California, Davis, a highly recognized research scientist, and a reviewer and editorial board member of several leading national food, nutrition and scientific journals.

The Role of Anti-oxidants

Anti-oxidants prevent or stop free radical damage.¹ Why is that important? Because as a wealth of research has indicated, anti-oxidants can help protect against certain diseases including cancer, diabetes, eye disease, heart disease, and more. They have even been shown to slow the effects of aging.

Anti-oxidants act as long-term preventive agents. They cannot reverse damage, but they can retard its progress. Damage that leads to chronic diseases is cumulative, usually occurring over decades.

That is why it is important that anti-oxidant requirements be met on a daily basis to slow this cumulative damage that builds up over the course of a lifetime.

¹The Nutrition Superbook, The Antioxidants, edited by Jean Barilla, M.S., Keats Publishing, Inc., 1995

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