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We often talk about polyphenols here at Atrantil, and it seems like antioxidants and polyphenols go together. Sometimes, you’ll read or hear new information about them and think that the words are synonymous — that polyphenols and antioxidants are the same things. Antioxidants What are They and Why are They Important

This isn’t actually the case. They’re two completely different types of molecules that both work toward improving your health. 

In this article, we want to clarify what antioxidants are and why they are important to your health. 

What are antioxidants?

Antioxidants are molecules that assist your body in fighting off free radicals. Free radicals are compounds that initiate and promote disease progression. Free radical counts can increase in your body from: 

Antioxidants pair with free radicals, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and reactive nitrogen species. When they pair up, antioxidants eliminate the molecule, so it no longer contributes to rising levels of oxidative stress (we will talk more about this later). 

You can think of antioxidants as bouncers. They are there to escort the molecules disrupting homeostasis within the body. 

Our bodies naturally create some antioxidants (endogenous), and we get others from our diet. Some of the endogenous antioxidants that our bodies create on their own include:

  • Metal-binding proteins (MBP)
  • Glutathione
  • Uric acid
  • Melatonin
  • Bilirubin
  • Polyamine

What is oxidative stress?

Oxidative stress happens when you don’t have enough antioxidants in your body to remove the ROS. ROS are a result of the metabolic processes (like digestion and exercise) that naturally occur in your body. 

Metabolic processes are necessary for cellular energy, breaking down food, and other essential bodily functions. ROS are metabolic byproducts like short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), but they aren’t helpful in the way SCFA are.

Since your body is always trying to stay in homeostasis, it creates antioxidants to scavenge the ROS. Your body continually accumulates free radicals, and if there aren’t enough antioxidants to balance them, they damage your cells. This puts your body under stress, specifically your immune system. 

Your immune system works to try and fight what is causing the cellular damage. This causes systemic inflammation, which we know leads to disease. Some of the diseases linked to oxidative stress include (but aren’t limited to):

  • Cardiovascular diseases
  • Metabolic diseases
  • Cancer
  • Neurodegenerative diseases
  • Kidney disease
  • Macular degeneration

Controlling the ROS before they get to these dangerous levels is extremely important to preserve your health. And that’s where antioxidants come into play. 

Antioxidants in foods

So you might be wondering where antioxidants come from. Our bodies actually make some antioxidants naturally; these are considered endogenous antioxidants. We get the rest of our antioxidants from food. 

Plants and animals alike are exposed to the same oxidative stress that we are, and therefore, they have antioxidants that we can access when we eat foods from these sources. 

Fruits

Fruits are often the first thing people think of when they hear the word antioxidant. This is understandable since fruits have some of the highest quantities of bioaccessible antioxidants. Fruits to eat to boost your antioxidants include:

  • Berries (especially strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and cranberries)
  • Citrus fruits — vitamin C is a major antioxidant that our bodies produce and can get from fruits, especially citrus foods
  • Grapes/wine

Vegetables

Vegetables go hand in hand with fruit and often come to mind when trying to be healthy. Antioxidants are one of the reasons they’re in that category for being so healthy (along with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other health-supporting qualities).

Some of the best veggies for antioxidants are:

  • Carrots
  • Squash
  • Tomatoes

Meat

Meat is one of the foods you don’t really expect to hear about getting antioxidants from. This is one of the big differences between polyphenols and antioxidants. Polyphenols only come from plant-based foods. Antioxidants keep animals healthy the same way they keep us healthy. Animals need them as much as we do. So, we can get antioxidants from animal-based foods in addition to plant-based ones. 

Cooking may result in a loss of some of the antioxidants, but you’re still getting some from real meat. Cooking meat with herbs and spices can add some more antioxidants to the meal as well. Examples of meat you can get antioxidants from include:

Other good sources of antioxidants

Some other excellent sources of antioxidants that don’t quite fit into these categories include:

  • Chocolate (dark)
  • Tea (especially green and black)
  • Coffee
  • Spices and herbs
  • Cereal
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Grains

Antioxidant Supplements: Helpful or Harmful?

Taking supplements is an easy way to get what we need in our diet without having to do much work. However, when it comes to antioxidants, supplements might not be the way to go. 

Antioxidants in concentrated quantities can actually be dangerous and cause more oxidative damage than reducing it. Excessive antioxidants have been linked to:

Talking with your doctor about adding supplements to achieve the goals you’re looking for will be the safest route to take. Supplements can be helpful for some people who have deficiencies or whose bodies struggle to extract nutrients properly. In this case, supplementation can help as long as it is monitored closely. Otherwise, supplementation usually isn’t needed outside of daily multivitamins. They usually have an adequate amount of each thing, so you aren’t exceeding daily recommendations.

The bottom line

Oftentimes, people in the Western world are exposed to more ROS than their bodies can handle. The typical Western diet also doesn’t usually provide the body with enough antioxidants to fight off and balance out ROS levels. 

Focusing on eating healthy, balanced, chemical-free diets can help to reduce oxidative stress and ROS load while preventing diseases caused by these phenomena. If you’re looking for a healthy diet that is full of antioxidants and polyphenols, check out the Mediterranean or MIND diet. 

If you need to freshen up your recipe book, check out our blog, which is full of healthy, gut-loving ideas. They’re full of flavor and health-promoting ingredients to help you enjoy eating healthy again.

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be bland or boring. Getting antioxidants into your diet doesn’t have to be hard. Just focus on getting the healthy foods in before the unhealthy ones, and you’re getting yourself on the right track. 

If you found this article helpful in explaining and understanding exactly what antioxidants are, give it a share across your social media platforms with the buttons at the top of the page. 

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