Anti-Aging Nutrition: Can Antioxidants Turn Back the Clock?

The siren-song of anti-aging seems to call out from everywhere today. From surgery to skin creams, is it possible that any of these options may improve quality of life and restore some of that feeling of youth? The simple answer is, there is no simple answer. Thoughtful study, understanding and application is critical when dealing with a subject of such importance.

Certainly nothing can make you literally younger. Anti-aging instead refers to the physical processes we associate with getting older. Why is it that some people may be advanced in years, and yet appear young? Why do others appear to be aging more rapidly than others do? A variety of factors may be involved, and diet seems to be a significant factor. (When it comes to diet, what you put in your body is something the body needs provides nourishment or it is something the body does not need and can throw bodily functions out of balance, cause stress or damage and require increased nourishment to counteract those negative effects.) As your body is exposed to toxins and other forms of stress, the health of your cells is impacted. These effects may be small, but they add up as so-called oxidative stresses accumulate in the body. Oxidative stress has the same basic impact on the body as rust does on a car. Instead of rust, we call these oxidizing agents free radicals.

The human body regenerates over time, cell by cell. This is how your body repairs from the stress of physical activity (exercise), the damage of a cut, broken bone, an infection or exposure to a strong toxin like chlorine. If the free radicals have been neutralized, the new cells will be able to function optimally. Left lurking in the body, those free radicals continue to damage the newly generated cells.

There is a solution. Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize free radicals. How important are antioxidants? Your body manufactures several of them, including glutathione and co-enzyme Q10. However your body is only designed to manufacture enough antioxidants to handle normal biology and product seems to decrease, as you get older. Many toxins in our modern environment never existed mere decades ago. They are free radicals and some even inhibit production of our own antioxidants and drive other nutrients from the body as well. This means your body is under a new kind of free radical burden, which might be substantially higher than what your parents were exposed to at your age.

The design of the body has a backup plan for dealing with free radical buildup. Certain foods contain potent antioxidants that your body can use to neutralize these free radicals as well. By eating more fresh, fruits and vegetables you increase the levels of antioxidants in your diet and begin to neutralize free radicals, giving your body the relief it needs to begin to repair and rebalance. High quality food supplements can also help to increase antioxidant levels as long as they are food-based and proven to actually contain still-effective levels of antioxidants. Most supplements are synthetic and studies have shown their benefit to be limited because the body does not recognize them in exactly the same was as antioxidants which are found in foods and supplements made from food extracts.

How much antioxidant support do you need? The current food pyramid suggests that you eat about nine servings of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables a day for minimal nutrition, including antioxidants. Some published studies suggest that the minimum might be as high as twenty servings a day. This could be quite a challenge. Are you currently eating nine? If you take any medications, experience stress in your life or workplace, or are dealing with the effects of any disease or injury, your minimal level of antioxidant support could be even higher. Because of this, the appropriate use of safe, food-based dietary supplements is a logical approach to supplementing, not substituting, the benefits of a good diet.

One of the earliest approaches to supplementing nutrient levels in the diet is juicing. By removing the extra fiber from a fruit or vegetable the body can more easily absorb the nutrients from freshly extracted juice. It is also possible to drink a large quantity of freshly made fruit or vegetable juice where eating the equivalent amount of whole foods would be extremely challenging. The downside to juicing, apart from convenience and often messy clean up, is these juices often contain high amounts of glucose and fructose sugars which are quickly absorbed as well. Bottled juices also tend to contain added refined sugar, making their benefits to good health questionable.

The next wave of technology to improve antioxidant support is the antioxidant supplement. The first dietary supplements sold were made from food extracts, but were quickly obscured by cheaper, synthetic substitutes. It was suggested that the synthetic molecules were the same as the food-bound nutrients but decades of collected research has shown a significant difference between antioxidants made in a lab and antioxidants found in food. Because of this, food-based supplements are regaining popularity as they demonstrate superior performance.

However, over time antioxidants oxidize and no longer provide value. Fruit and vegetable juice must be made from fresh sources and used immediately. Similarly, antioxidant supplements must be made from effective antioxidant sources that are still potent and the final products must be tested to ensure they are still potent.

Antioxidants should be found in everyone’s diet. There is a saying that the best time to dig a well is before you are thirsty so the earlier you incorporate antioxidants into your diet, the more you will benefit. However, anyone, at any age, can benefit from improved nutrition so never think it’s too late to change.

Dave Saunders is a nutrition consultant and national speaker. You can read more about health and wellness at http://www.glycowellness.com/ and http://www.glycoblog.com/.