Oxidative Stress

We’ve likely all heard of antioxidants. We’ve been bombarded in the last several years with commercials and other advertisements for fruit juices, vitamins and fortified foods that claim to be packed with powerful antioxidants that buck up our immune systems and protect us from sickness. But antioxidants do far more than help prevent the common cold or flu. So what actually is an antioxidant? To know that, we must first understand the oxidation process and what oxidative stress is in the human body.

The oxidation process is when molecules in the body lose an electron, creating free radicals. This is a common, everyday occurrence in the body’s normal processes, but it’s also triggered from chronic inflammation and outside forces, such as stress, over-exercise, pollution, chemicals, poor diet choices and even too much ultraviolet sunlight. Electrons are normally found in pairs, so these out-of-balance free radicals begin “stealing” electrons from other molecules in an effort to re-stabilize, creating more free radicals, which triggers inflammation. The vicious cycle is then initiated: inflammation causes oxidation, which brings on more inflammation and so on.

“At the center of chronic inflammation is the concept of oxidative stress – a biological type of ‘rusting,’” writes David Perlmutter, M.D., in “Grain Brain.” “This gradual corrosion happens on all tissues. It’s a normal part of life; it occurs everywhere in nature, including when our bodies turn calories (energy) from food and oxygen from the air into usable energy. But when it begins to run rampant, or when the body can’t keep it under healthy control [due to poor lifestyle choices and/or over exposure to toxins], it can become deadly. … Because oxidized tissues and cells don’t function normally, the process can render you vulnerable to a slew of health challenges.”

Perlmutter says scientists have long proven a powerful relationship between free radical production, oxidative stress and cognitive decline, adding oxidative stress is directly linked to brain degeneration.

“[T]he relationship between mild cognitive impairment and free radicals was well described in a 2007 report from Dr. William Markesbery of the University of Kentucky,” Perlmutter writes in “Grain Brain.” “In his report, Dr. Markesbery and colleagues demonstrated that cognitive function begins to decline early on – well before a brain disease is diagnosed. He also noted that elevated markers for oxidative damage to fat, protein, and even DNA correlate directly to the degree of mental impairment. Markesbery states, ‘These studies establish oxidative damage as an early event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease that can serve as a therapeutic target to slow the progression or perhaps the onset of the disease.’”

Oxidative stress adversely affects all tissues in the body, not just the brain. This “rusting” wreaks havoc on blood vessels, LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and all major tissues of the body, greatly increasing one’s risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and many other ailments. With LDL cholesterol, the damage is so bad that it’s no longer able to carry out its main function of carrying cholesterol molecules along with other nutrients to the brain and other parts of the body. LDL in its unhealthy small, dense form instead sticks to blood vessel walls, creating more oxidative damage, hence the misguided belief that LDL cholesterol is “bad” and leads to heart disease.

Mark Sisson explains in his book, “The New Primal Blueprint” that LDL actually begins its life in the liver as very low-density lipoprotein. VLDL’s job is to carry triglycerides – a formation of glycerol with three fatty acids – from the liver to fat and muscle cells for energy. As it leaves the liver, VLDL is comprised of 80 percent triglyceride with a bit of cholesterol along for the ride.

“Once these VLDLs have deposited their triglyceride load inside a fat or muscle cell, their size decreases substantially and they convert into either large, fluffy LDLs or small, dense LDLs – in both cases bearing mostly cholesterol and a little bit of remaining triglyceride,” Sisson writes. “Large, fluffy or ‘buoyant’ LDLs are the more innocuous form of LDL, as they go about their assigned task of delivering cholesterol to the cells that need it. The real trouble starts when triglycerides are unusually high in the bloodstream, causing your body to convert VDLDs into small, dense LDLs. This condition can occur routinely when you eat a high-carb diet (even if it’s a low-fat diet), because excess insulin production drives the conversion of ingested carbohydrates into fat (triglycerides).”

Going hand in hand with excessive triglycerides and insulin production is chronic inflammation and oxidation, setting off a chain of events that leads to disease.

Oxidation occurs in astounding amounts every day as a normal part of life. So how do we keep it from running amok and damaging the tissues in our bodies? This is where antioxidants come in. Antioxidants are nutrients, including vitamins A, C and E, and are found in plants such as berries and nuts and also are produced in the human body itself. They “donate” electrons to free radicals, stopping the domino effect and helping to prevent damage. Unfortunately, most of the nutrition has been depleted from our soils, thanks to genetically-modified farming practices, and the food industry then processes out what little nutrition is left, according to Perlmutter. So that pomegranate juice commercial that shows a powerful antioxidant dragon to great effect is rather misleading. Drinking fruit juice of any kind – even 100 percent juice – offers little more nutritional value than sugar water – certainly not enough to make a healthy impact on the body but instead contributes to insulin resistance.

Perlmutter also says the human body produces so many free radicals in the natural course of a day (roughly 10 with 18 zeros behind it, he says) that no vitamin supplement alone will turn the tides of oxidative damage. But fear not! As I just mentioned, the body produces its own antioxidants to combat free radicals; it just needs to be supplied the right environment to function optimally.

“Far from being entirely dependent on external food sources of antioxidants, our cells have their own innate ability to generate antioxidant enzymes on demand,” Perlmutter writes. “High levels of free radicals turn on a specific protein in the nucleus called Nrf2, which essentially opens the door for the production of a vast array of not only our body’s most important antioxidants, but also detoxification enzymes.”

Given the right healthy environment, the body is capable of producing enough antioxidants to keep oxidation in check. Perlmutter also says recent studies show the consumption and oxidation of omega-3 fats EPA and DHA have a significant impact on the Nrf2 pathway activation, boosting the body’s antioxidant power even more. So people who eat a diet high in these fats have noticeably decreased levels of free radical damage.

But what else can we do besides eating plenty of healthy fats to prevent oxidative stress? The answer is simple: get plenty of sleep, get enough but not too much exercise (more on both of these in the future) and eat a diet very low in carbohydrates, especially sugar. All the evidence seems to point to oxidative stress and inflammation being at the root of all chronic disease, including Alzheimer’s. And what lies festering at the root of these? What purely evil force has American’s by the tail and pulling them down at increasing speed? Sugar. Excessive sugar intake does so much more than mess with insulin production, leading to diabetes, or get converted into fat if not burned for energy. It truly is poison. And it’s important to remember that sugar alone isn’t the only culprit, because all carbs, including whole grains, once broken down in the body, are converted into sugar. Next week I will continue my discussion on oxidative stress by delving into sugar’s sinister role, explaining its affect on the body through a process called glycation.

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