Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances that bolster your immune system by protecting you from the harmful effects of oxygen released by chemical reactions in your body. The name antioxidants stems from their ability to help prevent and possibly even repair the damage caused by the process of oxidation.

Oxidative damage occurs either when your body breaks down food, creating oxygen, or when you’re exposed to environmental toxins, such as tobacco smoke and radiation. This damage causes your cells to stop functioning properly. Over time, the harm to the cells becomes irreversible and lead to illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

You can prevent oxidative damage by making sure your diet includes antioxidant substances, such as beta-carotene, lutein, lycopene, selenium, and vitamins A, C, and E. These compounds are found in many of the foods that you probably already eat, such as fruits and vegetables; nuts; grains; some meats, poultry, and fish; and even red wine. Foods containing antioxidants should be eaten at every meal for the maximum benefit. Since the process of digestion causes the oxidative process, the best way to combat the damage is to have antioxidants – either from food or from supplements taken daily – already in your bloodstream when you’re eating.

Additional Facts

1. The antioxidants in a daily glass of red wine may help prevent the development of certain cancers. The same benefit has not been shown from having a daily glass of white wine, beer, or liquor.

2. The brain is vulnerable to oxidative damage. As a result, antioxidants are commonly used in medications to treat brain injuries and are being investigated as medications for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

3. The antioxidant process is similar to stopping at cut apple from browning aft4er it’s been exposed to the air. If you dip a cut apple in orange juice, which contains the antioxidant vitamin C, it will stop the oxidation process and the apple’s flesh will stay white.

4.As many as 30 percent of Americans take antioxidant supplements.

Look Your Best with MyHealthPak™: Beauty Edition

No matter your age, you want to look your best. But looking your best on the outside means taking care of yourself on the inside. After all, beauty is more than skin deep. That’s why USANA created the MyHealthPak™: Beauty Edition.

Are you concerned with getting essential nutrition for good health while maintaining a youthful appearance with radiant skin, strong nails, and shiny hair? Take the guesswork out of deciding which products to order! The Beauty Edition of USANA MyHealthPak gives you the nutrition you need to look great and feel great with ingredients scientifically proven to benefit skin, hair, and nails, as well as protect against oxidative stress, which damages cells and impacts health and appearance.

Why can’t I buy a bottle of supplements from my local store?

Many of the nutrients in the MHP: Beauty Edition work synergistically to provide benefits that wouldn’t occur if taken alone, or if you took other supplements. The nutrients in this pack are able to work together to provide excellent skin support. Not only is the Beauty Edition a product for beauty, but it also supports good health with optimal levels of important nutrients, including high-potency vitamin D in Mega Antioxidant and a powerful blend of grape-seed extract found in USANA Vitamins Proflavanol® 180.

And of course, MHP: Beauty Edition is packed with the USANA Difference—safe, pure, effective, and potency guaranteed. Why would you trust anyone else? Take your beauty into your own hands today.

Add the MyHealthPak: Beauty Edition to your Autoship today and save!

Beauty starts from within—the science behind the supplements

MyHealthPak: Beauty Edition contains a special blend of nutrients working together in perfect harmony. Science and skin care—it’s a beautiful thing!

BiOmega™ (AM/PM)—Omega-3 fatty acids support the skin’s natural defenses against harsh ultraviolet radiation while helping to regulate cellular function and maintain elasticity and suppleness in the skin

Chelated Mineral (2 AM/2 PM)—Contains essential minerals that play a crucial role in skin integrity, including magnesium, and copper and zinc, which helps to develop elastin, the fibers that work with collagen to support skin structure from underneath

Mega Antioxidant (2 AM/2 PM)—Contains various vitamins and antioxidants that are essential for the integrity of healthy skin, including vitamin C, vitamin B6, biotin, and beta carotene

Procosa® II (AM)—Research suggests that glucosamine compounds may have several beneficial effects on skin or skin cells, including improved skin hydration and decreased wrinkles

Proflavanol® 180 (AM)—Neutralizes reactive oxygen species found in and on the skin while stimulating the renewal of vibrant, rugged, perfectly coiled collagen strands to support the skin’s integrity for a more youthful appearance

Visionex® DS (AM/PM)—Not only helps to maintain long-term eye health, but also contains lutein, which supports physiological mechanisms to maintain or restore a healthy skin barrier

AO Booster™ (PM)—Turmeric extract, rosemary extract, resveratrol, and green-tea extract all add to the antioxidant cocktail that is so vital to healthy skin appearance, making them an important defense over a large spectrum of toxins found in the environment

CoQuinone® 100 (PM)—Contains CoEnzyme Q10, which works with other antioxidants to help defend skin from visible effects of photo aging, plus alpha lipoic acid, which promotes healthy cells by providing antioxidant defense against damage caused by sun or pollution

Green Tea – Fighting Bacteria and Viruses

In 2007, researchers reported that green tea catechins fight bacteria by attacking DNA gyrase, an enzyme necessary for bacterial reproduction and the target of many antibiotics. Other studies demonstrate more specific antibacterial applications for green tea. At a 2005 symposium of the American Chemical Society, researchers provided evidence that green tea extract kills several common food-borne bacteria, including salmonella. The results of a 2001 study in the Journal of Medical Microbiology show that green tea fights streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus bacteria, both of which contribute to tooth decay. And in 2003, researchers reported using green tea to inhibit the growth of bacteria responsible for strep throat and tooth decay.

Green tea also has antiviral properties. Researchers investigated the effects of green tea catechins on the influenza virus. According to the results of their study, published in 2005 in the journal Antiviral Research, two catechins, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and epicatechin gallate (ECG), inhibited viral reproduction. In 2008, Chinese researchers published a study in the same journal showing that green tea extract inhibited the hepatitis B virus in laboratory settings.

Protecting Against Cognitive Impairment

In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2006, researchers surveyed a group of 1,003 subjects over the age of 70 about their green tea consumption. After comparing the survey data against the rate of cognitive decline experienced by the study’s participants, the authors wrote, “The prevalence of cognitive impairment decreased with increasing frequency of tea consumption”. They concluded that “higher consumption of green tea is associated with lower prevalence of cognitive impairment in humans”. While more research needs to be done in this area, initial results are promising.

The Bottom Line

Because of the wide-range health benefits of green tea on so many different systems in the body, it makes sense to drink green tea and take green tea supplements to promote and preserve good health.

Green Tea Fast Facts

Uses and Benefits: Green tea acts as an antioxidant, helps protect against cancer, fights bacterial infections and tooth decay, lowers cholesterol levels and may delay the onset of atherosclerosis.

Sources: The most common source of green tea is an infusion made from tea bag or loose tea leaves. Green tea extracts and capsules are also widely available.

Special Considerations: Drink green tea without milk, which may bind with some beneficial compounds in the tea and make them unavailable to the body. Some experts suggest drinking four to 10 cups of green tea a day; if this seems like too much, consider a green tea supplement. Be aware that green tea contains small quantities of caffeine.

Black tea does not offer the same health benefits as green tea. Unlike green tea leaves, which are gently steamed, black tea is fermented, a process that destroys polyphenols.

USANA’s powerful bioflavonoid supplement combines the highest quality grape-seed extract with vitamins C (as Poly C®) for additional antioxidant protection

The Answer is Antioxidants

A good diet and a healthy lifestyle can help our bodies protect themselves against free radicals and repair free radical damage. Unfortunately, as we age we accumulate a free radical burden that can’t always be offset by the antioxidants in our food. Poor nutrition, tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption and other harmful behaviors accelerate free radical damage and the aging process. One of the best ways to combat aging and avoid disease is to supplement a healthy diet with antioxidants. Antioxidants benefit our bodies in many ways:

• They promote cardiovascular health
• They control excessive inflammation
• They maintain healthy cholesterol levels
• They promote digestive health
• They boost the immune system
• They reduce the signs of aging

The Nuts and Bolts of Antioxidants

Antioxidants come in many forms – vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes can all have antioxidant capacity. Most plants contain a variety of antioxidant compounds. Some antioxidants work in a lipid (fat) environment and others work in a water environment. Since cells throughout the body contain both water and lipid components, both water-soluble and fat-soluble antioxidants are necessary for optimal health. Antioxidants can help regenerate other antioxidants by recycling electrons among themselves.

ORAC Value

Antioxidant value is defined as the ability of a compound to reduce the amount of free radicals within the body. In the past 30 years, scientists have developed a procedure to quantify this value. Oxygen radical absorbance capacity, often referred to as the ORAC value, is a measure of the total antioxidant value of foods and other chemical substances. The higher its ORAC value, the more antioxidant value a substance has.

In studies from the U.S. Agricultural Research Service (ARS), scientists found that high-ORAC foods raised the antioxidant power of human blood 10 to 25 percent, prevented loss of long-term memory and learning ability in middle-aged rats, maintained the ability of brain cells in middle-aged rats to respond to a chemical stimulus (a function that normally decreases with age) and protected rats’ capillaries against oxygen damage.

If these findings are borne out in further research, young and middle-aged people may be able to reduce risk of diseases of aging – including senility – simply by adding high-ORAC foods to their diets.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances that help protect the human body against damage caused by highly reactive molecules known as free radicals, which accelerate aging and contribute to the development of numerous diseases, including cancer and heart disease, two of the leading killers in the United States.

Free radicals

Free radicals are molecules with an odd or unpaired electron that damage DNA in human cells. Normal metabolic processes generate free radicals, but substances such as pesticides, tobacco smoke, radiation and other environmental pollutants can significantly increase free radical production in the body. Free radical damage to human cells can be compared to the oxidation of metal, which results in rust. The human body faces a continual onslaught of free radicals: Dr. Bruce N. Ames, a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, speculates that cells in the human body are exposed to about 10,000 free radical attacks each day.

Damaged DNA

Because free radicals have an odd or unpaired electron, they are constantly searching for another electron to create a stable pair. When a free radical takes an electron from a cell in the body, it creates another free radical that is also missing an electron, resulting in a continuous process in which free radicals are regenerated. This process damages cellular DNA and leads to disease and acceleration of the aging process.

The following is a more detailed description of how free radicals damage DNA:

1. Free radicals attach thymine, one of the four nucleotide bases in DNA.
2. As a result, thymidine glycol is formed.
3. The structure of oxidized thymidine changes to a cluster.
4. The cell attempts to repair the damaged part of the DNA by replacing it with new DNA.
5. Numerous DNA repairs lead to more cellular mutations.
6. Cellular mutations can lead to malignant growth.

Rancid Fats and Cellular Destruction

Free radicals also cause damage by turning fats in the body rancid. This process creates liposuscin, a brown waste product that leaves age spots on the hands and interferes with synaptic communication in the brain. Lipofuscin deposits are also found in the liver, eyes, heart and other organs. At age 30, the amount of intracellular lipofuscin is about 35 percent; at age 90, lipofuscin levels skyrocket to 78 percent.

Free radicals can also destroy cell membranes, interfering with cells’ ability to take in nutrients and expel waste, and rupture cell lysosmes, thus directly entering cells and destroying their contents.

Alpha-lipoic Acid

Alpha-lipoic acid is a naturally occurring substance found throughout the human body and in a variety of foods. While alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) performs several vitamin-like functions, scientists do not classify it as a vitamin because the body can manufacture enough for its own needs. Alpha-lipoic acid is a powerful antioxidant that protects cells against damage caused by free radicals, which can bind to and destroy cellular material in the body, including DNA. In addition to its own antioxidant activity, ALA helps to recycle other antioxidants, including vitamin C, vitamin E and glutathione, a substance that is essential for intercellular health. While most bioactive compounds are soluble in either water or fat, alpha-lipoic acid is soluble in both, making it especially useful for protecting against free radical damage both inside and outside the body’s cells.

Because of its impressive antioxidant properties, researchers have investigated alpha-lipoic acid for its role in preventing and treating conditions believed to be related to oxidative stress, including diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, cataracts and radiation injury. Studies have also shown that ALA may help to protect the brain from damage after a stroke and may even be beneficial for people with AIDS.

Because the body’s production of alpha-lipoic acid decreases as we age, some experts believe that a daily ALA supplement may be beneficial for promoting health and preventing disease in middle-aged and elderly adults. Alpha-lipoic acid may also help reverse the decline of mitochondrial energy production that occurs during the normal aging process.

The “Ideal” Antioxidant?

From a therapeutic viewpoint, few natural antioxidants are ideal. An ideal therapeutic antioxidant would fulfill several criteria. These include absorption from the diet, conversion in cells and tissues into usable form, a variety of antioxidant actions (including interactions with other antioxidants) in both membrane and aqueous phases, and low toxicity. Alpha-lipoic acid is unique among natural antioxidants in its ability to fulfill all of these requirements, making it a potentially highly effective therapeutic agent in a number of conditions in which oxidative stress has been implicated.

Diabetes and Diabetic Neuropathy

Alpha-lipoic acid, in conjunction with other antioxidants such as vitamin E and vitamin C, may be doubly helpful for people with diabetes. By promoting the conversion of sugar into energy in the mitochondria (the energy factory in cells), ALA can help remove excess glucose form the bloodstream and improve insulin function, resulting in decreased insulin resistance. Additionally, researchers have found that patients with diabetic neuropathy – ac condition that causes pain, tingling, and numbness in the hands and feet – benefitted significantly from ALA supplementation.

Several research studies support the effectiveness of alpha-lipoic acid in treating diabetic neuropathy. In other double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, scientists assigned 328 participants with type 2 diabetes and diabetic neuropathy to receive either an intravenous infusion of alpha-lipoic acid or a placebo for three weeks. Patients scored their neuropathy symptoms at baseline and throughout the study with the Hamburg Pain Adjective List and the Neuropathy Symptom and Disability Score. The Total Symptom Score was significantly lower in participants taking ALA than in those taking the placebo.

In another study, the SYDNEY trial, 120 participants, with diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy were randomly assigned to receive either 600 milligrams of intravenous alpha-lipoic acid or a placebo five days per week for 14 treatments. The ALA group’s Total Symptom Score was significantly reduced compared with those receiving the placebo. Finally, a meta-analysis that combined data from the ALADIN I, ALADIN III, SYDNEY and NATHAN II trials showed that patients who used 600 milligrams of intravenous alpha-lipoic acid for three weeks showed a 24.1 percent reduction in Total Symptom Score and a 16 percent reduction in the Neuropathy Impairment Score.

Please note that the studies cited above used intravenous alpha-lipoic acid supplements. The long-term benefits of oral ALA supplements for diabetic neuropathy have not yet been fully established; however, evidence does suggest that 600 milligrams per day of an oral alpha-lipoic acid supplement may help relieve diabetic neuropathy. Responding to the positive news about ALA’s role in diabetes and its complications, the American Diabetes Association has stated that alpha-lipoic acid and vitamin E supplements may be helpful in some of the health complications associated with diabetes, including kidney disease, vision problems, heart disease and nerve damage. ALA is a potentially vital supplement for the one in 20 Americans who live with diabetes.

Bottom Line

While many antioxidant supplements are available, ALA is unique in its ability to function as both a water- and fat-soluble antioxidant, as well as its role in recycling vitamin C, vitamin E and glutathione. For diabetics, people with other health conditions and even middle aged and elderly adults who want to maintain optimal health, alpha-lipoic acid is showing great promise.

Vitamin C

General Information

The primary function of vitamin C is the manufacture of collagen, the main protein substance in the human body. Since collagen is such an important protein for the structures that hold our body together (connective tissue, cartilage, tendons, etc.), vitamin C is vital for wound repair, healthy gums, and the prevention of easy bruising.

In addition to its role in collagen metabolism, vitamin C is also critical to immune function, the manufacture of certain nerve-impulse-transmitting substances and hormones, carnitine synthesis, and the absorption and utilization of other nutritional factors.

Antioxidant effects

Vitamin C is one of the body’s most important antioxidants. It works in aqueous (watery) environments in the body, both outside and inside human cells. It is the first line of antioxidant protection in the body. As an antioxidant, vitamin C is showing promise in the prevention of diseases associated with oxidative damage, such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

Asthma and other allergies

Low vitamin C levels in the diet and the blood are an independent risk factor for asthma. Since 1973 there have been eleven clinical studies of vitamin C showed significant improvements in respiratory measures and asthma symptoms as a result of supplementing the diet with 1 to 2 g of vitamin C daily. This dosage recommendation appears extremely wise based on the increasing exposure to inhaled oxidants along with the growing appreciation of the antioxidant function of vitamin C in the respiratory system.

High-dose vitamin C therapy may also help asthma and other allergies by lowering histamine levels. Vitamin C prevents the secretion of histamine by white blood cells and increases the breakdown of histamine.
Cancer prevention

Vitamin C exerts many functions that may offer protection against cancer, including acting as an antioxidant. Vitamin C also helps the body deal with environmental pollution and toxic chemicals, enhances immune function, and inhibits the formation of cancer-causing compounds in the body. The population-based (epidemiological evidence) of a protective effect of vitamin C against cancer is undeniable. A high dietary intake of vitamin C reduces the risk for virtually all forms of cancer, including cancers of the lung, colon, breast, cervix, esophagus, oral cavity, and pancreas. While most of this evidence is based upon a high vitamin C intake from foods also rich in carotenes and other nutrients protective against cancer, a few of the studies looked at supplementation as well.

Cataracts

Individuals with higher dietary intakes of vitamin C have a much lower risk for developing cataracts and macular degeneration. In addition to offering protective effects, several clinical studies have demonstrated that vitamin C supplementation can halt cataract progression and, in some cases, significantly improve vision.

Rating the Antioxidants

All fruits and vegetables, whole grain, legumes, tea, chocolate and wine – in short, just about any real food – have antioxidants. What makes one super and one not? It’s the amount of antioxidants.

To measure a food’s antioxidant content, researchers use the ORAC test, which stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. This is a measure of the total antioxidant content in a given food and thus how many free radicals a specific food can absorb and destroy. The more oxygen radicals a food absorbs, the higher its ORAC score. The higher its ORAC score, the better it is at helping our bodies prevent memory loss and cope with stress.

Nutrition experts estimate each one of us needs a minimum of 3,000 ORAC points a day to even begin to protect the mind, mood and body, though most Americans average less than half that amount. A daily ORAC intake of 10,000 or more is even better. In fact, no one has yet found an upper limit. You can’t store antioxidants, so you must replenish ORAC points every day. That means you need these and lots of other real foods in just about every meal you eat.

Antioxidants for an Antiaging Brain

Your body “rusts” when exposed to little oxygen fragments called free radicals or oxidants. Our bodies and brains are exposed to these troublemakers when we breathe air pollution and tobacco smoke, eat fatty foods and are exposed to pesticides. Even if you lived in a pristine world, your body will would be making free radicals during normal metabolic processes.

Luckily, your body has an anti-free radical arsenal, called antioxidants. These are the housekeepers that sweep up oxidants and flush them out of the body. Antioxidants defend cells from aging and protect tiny blood vessels that transport nutrients to brain in cells, keeping them elastic and free of “debris”. Since 20% of the heart’s output goes to the brain, all of these benefits mean improved blood flow and better thinking.

The trick is to maintain an antioxidant arsenal equal to or better than the onslaught of free radicals. As we get older, oxidative damage to tissues, including the brain, intensifies, so that a 30-year-old person needs more antioxidants than a teenager, and the required dose increases even more with every passing decade. If you want to protect your brain, you must build a huge antioxidant arsenal, then replenish it daily.

And it works. People who feast on antioxidant-rich foods and supplements throughout the day also have the highest blood and tissue levels of these do-gooders and the lowest risk for developing dementia, depression or even Alzheimer’s disease. They live the longest, they think the clearest and they are the happiest. Even their sex lives improve!

Munch on Olives

Long an essential part of the Mediterranean diet, olives are delicious, and their oil, high in monounsaturated fats, has been in the news because of its ability to reduce “bad” cholesterol in the blood. Researchers also suspect olive oil may protect against gastrointestinal cancer by influencing the metabolism of the gut. Olive oil also contains Vitamin E, antioxidants, and beta-carotene – all metabolism boosters. Dr. Andrew Weil recommends the exclusive use of olive oil for fat in the diet. Studies have shown that people who consume olive oil in preference to other fats have a lower incidence of heart disease.

Eat Nutrient-Rich Vegetables

Everyone knows that vegetables are good for us, but some vegetables are healthier than others and can help metabolism. In fact, many vegetables will satisfy – or nearly satisfy – your daily requirements for several vitamins. From dark leafy greens rich in calcium, iron, and magnesium to the cruciferous vegetables like bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, turnips, and water cress that have cancer-preventing antioxidants to nutrient-rich vegetables like carrots, potatoes, yams, and tomatoes, vegetables are always a good thing to snack on and include with each meal.