ANTIOXIDANTS: WHAT ON EARTH ARE THEY?
It's likely been some time that you've had to write a silly Haiku for your grade 5 English teacher, but nonetheless there's actually some truth behind this one. Every heard of antioxidants? Probably, but what are they exactly? And where do they come from?
Antioxidants have been raved about for quite some time now due to their ability to combat free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that have an unpaired electron in its outermost shell.1 This situation can wreak havoc to surrounding molecules and compounds, because the greedy free radical is hungry to have satisfied electron pairs. So what does it do? It disrupts his nearby “friends” by stealing one of their electrons, causing disruption to the mechanisms of how these compounds operate. Moreover, your greedy friend is so unstable that he can continue to do it again, and again, and again. Luckily, our antioxidant friends can save the day by standing up to these greedy reactive bullies. These bullies are also known as “reactive oxygen species” due to their intense emotional instability and include cliques such as peroxides, superoxides, and the ever most popular hydroxyl radical.2 Steer clear, but never fear – antioxidants are here, and they are willing to donate one of their electrons to keep the peace. Our bully friends may be satisfied in getting what they want, but really, our humble antioxidant friends really just wanted to shut them up. Everybody wins.
So where can we find our heroic antioxidants? All around us actually! They are naturally occurring in many fruits, vegetables, and herbs.1 There are also different kinds of antioxidants, and this depends on the type of phytochemical, or “plant” chemical that we are talking about. There are four main categories of phytochemicals, in which two of the groups (carotenoids and flavonoids) contain the majority of our superheroes.3 Quercetin, in particular, is a flavonoid that exhibits some pretty impressive antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which can put our bullies’ tricks to shame. It is found mostly in onions, grapes, berries, cherries, broccoli, and citrus fruits.4 Consume a regular and wide variety of these superhero fruits and vegetables and you will be sure to never have your lunch money (or electron) stolen again!
REFERENCES:
1. Haas, E. M., & Levin, B. (2006). Staying healthy with nutrition: the complete guide to
diet and nutritional medicine. Berkeley: Celestial Arts.
2. An Introduction to Reactive Oxygen Species - Measurement of ROS in Cells: January 26, 2014. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.biotek.com/resources/white-papers/an-introduction-to-reactive-oxygen-species-measurement-of-ros-in-cells/
3. Kumar, Shashank, Pandey, & K., A. (2013, December 29). Chemistry and Biological
Activities of Flavonoids: An Overview. Retrieved from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2013/162750/
4. Anand David, A. V., Arulmoli, R., & Parasuraman, S. (2016). Overviews of Biological Importance of Quercetin: A Bioactive Flavonoid. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5214562/
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