Antioxidants offer a wealth of health benefits from reversing the process of biological ageing, reducing your risk of developing chronic disease as well as enhancing your levels of general health and wellbeing.

Over the past 40 years, various studies have revealed that many degenerative diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, cataracts and arthritis arise because of a deficiency in antioxidants.

So, what are these antioxidants? They are substances that protect the body against the harmful and damaging effects of chemicals known as free radicals. Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food or when you’re exposed to tobacco smoke, pollution or radiation. Essentially, antioxidants neutralise free radicals.

Why are they important? The highly unstable and destructive chemicals (free radicals) that get produced in our bodies and wreak havoc by damaging cellular DNA (our genetic material), destroying cells and corroding cellular membranes. This sort of damage is the number one cause of ageing and a significant contributor to many diseases. Free radicals enter our bodies through breathing in polluted air and cigarette smoke and are generated during prolonged stress or illness and through every metabolic reaction involving oxygen. When oxygen molecules become unstable, they seek to stabilise by reacting with other chemicals. If left unchecked, this leads to inflammation and arterial wall damage – the precursors of disease and premature ageing. Antioxidants can neutralise free radicals and prevent this damage from taking place. The key to good health, disease prevention and anti-ageing is therefore to make sure that our antioxidant levels are consistently high enough to neutralise the free radicals within our bodies.

 Where do I get these antioxidants? The body’s main antioxidants are Vitamins A, C and E and Beta-Carotene the precursor of Vitamin A, as well as the likes of Glutathione, Lipoic Acid and Co-Enzyme Q10, all of which are found in the food that we eat. The best way to increase your antioxidant intake is by eating an antioxidant rich diet. Food stuffs such as such as blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, kale, red cabbage and broccoli, as well as nuts and grains – and even dark chocolate!  As a general rule of thumb, you should aim to eat at least 5 to 9 portions of vegetables and fruit a day and try and mix them up, so you don’t keep eating the same foods every day. Variety and consistency in eating those 5-9 portions is the key! However, in most cases people find this unrealistic and look to supplementation to support their diet.

What supplements will help me boost antioxidants in my diet? There are number of supplements that can help either by choosing an antioxidant supplement that combines a number of antioxidant ingredients or taking a combination of supplements depending on your needs or preference.  However, combinations are believed to be best to create ‘synergy’ (where the ingredients support and enhance each other’s effectiveness) which makes the combination option much more powerful than individual antioxidant nutrients. Research has indicated that taking an antioxidant in isolation can actually do more harm than good. Often an isolated antioxidant, becomes overwhelmed, damaged and puts stress on the body too. But in the presence of other antioxidants, they recycle one another and prevent this from happening.

You can see our full range here. Some option to consider are: -

Selenium + Vitamins A, C and E  - Selenium enhances the activity of Vitamin E. This trace mineral that helps protect your body from attack by free radicals we've combined it with high strength Vitamins A, C and E for maximum antioxidant effect.

Pomegranate 6000mg This natural antioxidant is a great source of natural fibre, iron and vitamins A, C and E.

Anti-Ageing Complex - Packed with Acetyl L-Carnitine and Alpha Lipoic Acid, two natural substances that help as a shield against time.

Vitamin E Is one of the most potent antioxidants and is of particular significance in slowing down the ageing process and preventing disease. This is a fat-soluble nutrient found in many foods such as green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils but can be easily destroyed during the cooking process.

Co-Enzyme Q10 100mg  - This antioxidant plays a vital role in converting food into energy. All body cells produce this substance, but as you get older the level of production can drop, leaving you feeling fatigued.

In the natural process of our day out body breaks down nutrients, absorbs them and uses them for repair and growth. This happens every minute of every day and is the way in which we survive. However this process, albeit natural, also causes some damage; Free Radical Damage and here is how. Oxidation uses oxygen and is the same process that turns butter rancid and metal to rust, if left to its own devices it can cause degeneration of body tissue and premature ageing. In humans, oxidation is an essential part of normal metabolism but oxidation is also caused by environmental factors too. These include exposure to the suns rays pollution, smoking and a poor diet and speed up the development of free radical damage if left unchecked. Your body has a sophisticated method of keeping this in check by using a group of nutrients called anti-oxidants. These anti-oxidants swoop around the body soaking up and destroying any free radical molecules before they can cause any damage. Thankfully anti-oxidants can be found in abundance if we eat a nutritious whole-food diet, By this I mean a diet rich and varied in fruit, vegetables and wholegrains.

Perhaps the most well known antioxidants are Vitamins A, C and E but there are also a very important group of nutrients; Carotenoids. These are the chemicals that give fruit and vegetables their rich colour for example orange and yellow colours found in squashes and carrots are from the caretonoid Beta Carotene. Beta Carotene is converted into an active form of Vitamin A, known as Retinol, when in the body which is a potent antioxidant. Lycopene is also a strong antioxidant and gives tomatoes their wonderful red colour. Lycopene has been shown to be especially effective at protecting from and repairing skin damage as well as supporting the prostate. Lutein and zeanthinin are also caretonoid’s receiving a lot of recent positive research. They demonstrate health promoting benefits for the eyes and for strengthening the immune defences. Their names are derived from their natural hue, with lutein derived from the Latin word luteus meaning golden yellow, zea referring to the corn genus and xantho derived from the Greek word for yellow. While these carotenoids both have yellow pigments, they are found concentrated in foods of others colors, notably leafy green vegetables (kale, spinach, brocolli) and including eggs, courgettes, corn and peas. Another great source of Zeanthinin is Krill oil. The eyes are repositories for carotenoids with lutein and zeaxanthin concentrated in the retina and lens. Observational studies have noted that higher dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin is related to reduced risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Researcher suggests that these carotenoids may promote eye health through their ability to protect the eyes from light-induced oxidative damage and aging through both their antioxidant actions and an ability to filter out UV light.

Flavanoids are another important group of antioxidants found in red wine and tea among others. Epidemiologists suggest that the reduced rates of heart disease in France may be due to the regular and moderated intake of red wine. These flavanoids are thought to protect the genetic material, or DNA, from free radical damage. Damage to DNA contributes to degenerative diseases such as alzheimers and advanced cognitive decline. Green tea contains the highest amount of flavanoids of all tea varieties and exert many health benefits including repairing skin damage and reducing the risk of some cancers.

Another less talked about antioxidant is a nutrient called Alpha Lipoic Acid. It is the only antioxidant that can easily interchange between the blood stream and the brain and has therefore been noted as being important in the prevention of a stroke for those at a high risk. A similar antioxidant, acteyl L Carnitine can delay the onset of age related cognitive decline. This is where the cognitive functions of memory, moos and logical thinking decline with age and is the very result of an increase of free radical damage. As our bodies produce less of our own supply of antioxidants, the damage outweighs the repair and physical deterioration occurs. In a study conducted with mild age related cognitive decline patients significant improvements (memory, mood and response to stress) were seen in those that had been given acetyl L carnitine. The antioxidant Co Enzyme Q10 also looks promising for its protective role in the cardiovascular system which include the heart and arteries as well as slowing the progression of Parkinsons or Huntingtons disease.

Recent research has shown that antioxidants must work together to prevent free radical damage. For example when vitamin E has been neutralized it then becomes a very weak version of a free radical itself. However if it is taken in combination with Vitamin C, the vitamin C will ‘recycle’ it so that Vitamin E becomes an active antioxidant once again. Similarly Vitamin C must be recycled by a antioxidant called glutathione so the same does not happen to it too. Antioxidants also need other team players in the nutrient group such as zinc, magnesium, copper and manganese to do their job optimally. Researchers have in fact found that a combination of vitamin C, E, Betacarotene and zinc slows down the progression of age related macular degeneration by 25%.

You cannot stop the process of oxidation but you can limit the amount of degenerative damage that occurs as a result of it. As you age it becomes increasingly vital to ensure an optimum supply of antioxidants either through diet and supplementation or both. Remember to keep up the variety to get a cross section of these wonderful health promoting nutrients or if taking a supplement is the most practical solution, take a combination product such as a multivitamin and add on an extra antioxidant boost such as Vitamin C or Mixed caretonoids.