Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog » free radicals

The Vast Benefits of Antioxidants

Ross — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:56:31 +0000

This week Gareth Edwards, our highly qualified nutritionist and alkaline diet expert, is writting about the vast range of benefits of antioxidants. He explains why in order to stay healthy it is very important to give our body antioxidants which fight free radicals inside the body.

The Vast Benefits of Antioxidants by Gareth Edwards

So how are those post Christmas “de-tox” plans going? I had a euphoric e-mail from one of my patients telling me how much better she was feeling after going through three days of Ross’s alkaline cleanse. Out the other side, she was feeling so much better and ready for a year of alkalising and a diet high in fresh plant alkaline foods.

That’s great, but why is it that 5 (or even 12) portions of vegetables or low sugar fruits are so widely advocated by governments and (virtually!) all health professionals. I have a 300 page scientifically referenced book on the desk next to me dedicated solely to that subject. The conclusion ……. we’re not totally sure why, but increasing your intake of fibre, vitamin and mineral rich plant foods does seem to reduce the incidence of degenerative diseases such as arthritis, cardio-vascular disease and cancer.

One of the areas of inquiry that is discussed in the book is the beneficial anti-oxidant activity of certain plant compounds. Why on earth, you might ask, would you want something in your body that is an anti-oxidant, when surely we need oxygen for life? An oxidation reaction is actually the creation of a substance containing less hydrogen atoms (or ions) or less electrons. That will generally mean the creation of a more acidic substance.

Substances which cause oxidation are created in the body by the metabolism of food to produce energy and outside the body, by combustion processes (e.g. the burning of fossil fuels). These substances are sometimes referred to as “free radicals”.

These highly reactive chemical species can cause destructive damage to cellular structures and fluids in the body, but, perversely small quantities of them are needed for signalling in body systems. It is therefore imperative that our bodies have adequate resources to “defuse” free radicals and prevent free radical damage.

What Damage can Free Radicals Cause?

There are certain structures in our bodies that are particularly susceptible to damage by highly reactive chemical entities. Our cell membranes are largely made from poly-unsaturated fats (that’s part of the reason you need healthy vegetable oils like Udo’s Choice). The chemical structure of these fats means that they can easily be damaged or altered by free radicals. This is called lipid per-oxidation. Leaky or damaged cell membranes are ….. not good!

Another mechanism by which free radicals can damage your health is through disrupting the delicate chemical structure of DNA. This is the genetic coding that “sequences” the “manufacture” of our body parts. Free radicals can also damage or destroy proteins that act as signalling mechanisms and help catalyse (accelerate) certain chemical reactions in the body.

How to Maintain your Body’s Anti-Oxidant Capability:

You can imagine that keeping free radicals “at bay” is …… important! Our bodies produce chemicals that do that. Two of these are super-oxide-dismutase (SOD!) and glutathione peroxidase. One way to boost your body’s oxidant diffusing capability is to take glutathione (sold by Energise as Dr. Young’s glutapHione).

You can also increase your consumption of nutrients that promote the production of these substances. Vitamins A (found as beta-carotene in green leafy vegetables) C (present in all raw vegetables and low sugar fruits) and E (found in nuts, seeds ,avocados and raw vegetable oils). Selenium (found in sesame seeds, brazil nuts and sprouted lentils) and zinc (also found in sprouted beans and seeds and almonds).

Other plant substances are believed to have anti-oxidant capabilities. Research however shows that this is just one facet of plants health promoting facets and that anti-oxidant substances act in concert with each other (synergistically).

Anti-Oxidants at the Flick of a Switch:

For those of you that have read Ross’s articles (encyclopaedia!) on water, you are probably aware that one of the benefits of a water ioniser is that it increases the oxygen / reduction potential (ORP). Your alkaline water from the ioniser will have a negative charge allowing to react with the positive charge of oxidising agents.

Anti-Oxidant Boosting Plan:

Remember that there is plenty of scientific evidence to support the health benefits of eating a diet rich beta-carotene and vitamin C (both present in dark green leafy and other fresh, raw vegetables and low sugar fruits, such as tomatoes). Avocados and fresh nuts and seeds are high in vitamin E. Adding further supplements of food based anti-oxidants (rather than isolated synthetically produced vitamins – like ascorbic acid) could be beneficial. Taking glutathione or drinking electron (negative charged) rich water should help your body prevent oxidative damage too.

Note: This blog is only my opinion. It is not medical advice or diagnosis. Only opinions based upon our own personal experiences or information detailed in medical/academic journals or other publications is cited. WE DO NOT OFFER MEDICAL ADVICE or prescribe any treatments. Please consult with a medical professional before making any diet or nutrition changes.

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

What Antioxidants REALLY Do (and easy ways to get enough)!

Ross — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:39:19 +0000

What Antioxidants REALLY Do (and easy ways to get enough)!

Everybody has heard of antioxidants, everybody knows that are good for them and it feels like every food and drink product under the sun claims to have them.

But what are antioxidants and why are they so important? Oh, and what is the easiest, and best way to make sure we get enough!

Antioxidants: The Basics

Antioxidants literally do what they say on the tin, they prevent oxidation reactions in the body. They are anti-oxidising.

And why is this important? Because oxidation reactions in the body produce ‘free radicals’ which are serious cell damagers and the cause of many diseases and aging. In fact, oxidative stress has been shown to be pivotal in the onset of many diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, motor neurone disease and a number of different cancers.

These oxidation reactions are natural in the body (they happen when our cells use oxygen) and we cannot and should not try to prevent them. But we do need to ensure we are consuming enough antioxidants to clean up the by-product of these reactions, the free radicals.

Antioxidants are free-radical scavengers, scuttling about through the body, not only removing these free radicals, but also repairing the damage that they have done. Brilliant.

Where Can I Get Some?

Thankfully antioxidants are found in tasty, tasty foods! Here are some of the most important, with a list of our favourite (alkaline, vegetarian) sources:

Glutathione: because all other antioxidants depend upon the presence of glutathione to function properly, scientists call it ’the master antioxidant.’ To give your body the best chance of manufacturing enough you have to eat a nice, wide variety of sources. Foods that help are asparagus, broccoli, avocado and spinach.
Vitamin A and Carotenoids: these ones are easy to get, just hit the fresh aisle of the supermarket or grocery store and head for the colour! Carrots, peppers (capsicum), broccoli, sweet potato, greens, tomatoes are all a really great source. If you’re living alkaline then you’ll be getting plenty of vitamin A from your greens!
Vitamin C: people naturally assume oranges and other citrus, but if you are trying to live alkaline and/or trying not to consume too much sugar you can get your vitamin c from green capsicum (peppers), broccoli, spinach (and other greens), tomatoes and cauliflower. Can you see a theme emerging with some of these antioxidant sources?
Flavonoids / polyphenols:green tea is great, but don’t go overboard on the caffeine! Vegetables high in flavonoids include onion, kale, green beans, broccoli, celery, tomato, pepper/capsicum, cabbage, carrots and peas!
Vitamin E: no tomatoes in this list! Vitamin E is all about the almonds and sunflower seeds! Leafy greens are also pretty good, but almonds and sunflower seeds have almost double the Vitamin E of other food sources.
Lycopene: you probably already know to hit the tomatoes hard for your lycopene fix, and they are pretty much, hands-down the best source. The jury is still out as to whether lycopene is absorbed better from cooked instead of raw tomatoes, but it has been proven that vine ripened tomatoes outscore those tomatoes ripened off the vine. Pink grapefruit is also a decent source if you want to mix it up a bit (grapefruit is also great for the liver).
Lutein: greens, greens, greens. That’s all there really is to say on this one!
Lignan: flax seed/oil is the very best source of this antioxidant, giving another argument for the case to consume plenty of flax oil every day! Sesame seeds are also a great source, so if you use an oil blend like Udo’s Choice you should be flying! Again, greens are another of the best food sources. Are you getting tired of me mentioning greens yet?

The Four Easiest Ways to Antioxidants

So in order to get your body’s requirement of antioxidants daily there are three great sources:

Drink Ionized Water: water that has been ionized is rich in antioxidants. Measured using a method called ORP (oxygen reduction potential) ionized water has an ORP of -450. To give this context, green tea has an ORP of -200, meaning that ionized water has over twice the antioxidant content of green tea. Drinking 304 litres of water from your ionizer each day will dramatically increase your antioxidant intake.
Greens & Tomatoes: by getting plenty of serves of leafy green vegetables, other greens such as asparagus and tomatoes you will be getting a really good range of antioxidants and also providing your body with the sources it needs to manufacture Glutathione
Dr Young’s Glutathione: Dr Young has created ‘the first natural water-based oral Glutathione from avocados. This product is a fantastic way to guarantee that you will give your body all of the Glutathione it needs to support the function of all the other antioxidants you ingest. What a great safety net!
pH Ion’s Indigo: this is an absurdly amazing product. Each serve of Indigo has an ORAC (Oxygen radical absorbance capacity – the standardised measure of the antioxidant capacity of foods) level of 8000 – that’s the same amount of antioxidants as 4lbs of fruit in one serve – and without the sugar! This is easily one of the best products I have ever come across!

The Energise Anti-Oxidant Super Meal

So, to help you on your way to antioxidant heaven, here is our Energise Anti-Oxidant Super Meal. It is delicious, filling and takes about 10 minutes to make! Brilliant! Oh and it is so vibrant and colourful you’ll probably just want to look at it for ten minutes before you start eating.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2

1/4 Red cabbage thinly sliced
2 Handfuls of spinach leaves
2 Vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
1/2 red onion, diced
4 spring onions, thinly sliced/shredded
1/2 cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
1 carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
1/2 broccoli, chopped small
Handful of beansprouts
1 serve of soba noodles
1 handful of coriander leaves
Juice of 1 lime
Bragg Liquid Aminos/Soy Sauce

Optional: handful of alfalfa sprouts

Directions:

Firstly, tear the coriander and squeeze the lime juice over it to marinate a little. Now slice everything as indicated above and quickly prepare the soba noodles (they don’t take long). Then simply mix everything together in a big salad bowl with the Bragg or soy sauce and eat!

This is a fantastic meal because it is 90% raw, but the noodles give it warmth and some satisfying substance.

With the Bragg or Soy choice it is up to you. If you want to keep this meal as being highly alkaline then go for the Bragg because soy sauce is highly acidifying in the body.

What are you waiting for?

So that is everything you need to know to start getting all of the antioxidants your body needs! Get out there and eat and cook with colour!

About Ross Bridgeford

From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...