The Essentials for Optimal Health
by John Cassone, Ph.D.
“I am not exaggerating when I say that one of the biggest medical stories of the century is the discovery that antioxidants play a far greater role in health maintenance than we had ever believed possible”
– Lester Packer, Ph.D., Director of the Packer Lab, University of California at Berkley
What are antioxidants and free radicals?
Antioxidants are compounds that absorb free radicals and render them harmless. Different antioxidants are found in various parts of the body offering protection to the areas they travel. In order to obtain the greatest levels of protection, we need more than one type of antioxidant. Free radicals are molecules that are missing electrons. They are unstable and try to rob electrons from whatever molecules they bump into causing lots of damage. We call this type of damage “oxidation.” This damage occurs inside and outside of our cells and can even damage DNA. Oxidation causes or contributes to nearly all disease including cancer.
Can we get optimal nutrition from our diet?
No. Not if we want optimal health (there are no RDA’s for optimal health which is not just disease free but rather disease prevention and a sense of heightened wellness). Chronic disease is wide spread with strong correlations to nutritional status. Stress, processed foods, depleted agriculture, and increasingly toxic environments exhaust our antioxidant levels beyond the average person’s ability to replenish even with good eating habits. In order to receive an optimal amount of 400 I.U. of vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant for heart disease prevention, you would have to eat 33 pounds of spinach, 1.2 pounds of sunflower seeds, 5.2 pounds of wheat germ, 2.2 pounds of almonds, or 1 quart of safflower oil. The recommendation for lipoic acid is 100 mg daily. It takes 7 pounds of spinach just to get 1 gram of lipoic acid. It is nearly impossible to get our antioxidant defense system to an optimal state without supplementation.
“More than 70 percent of Americans will die prematurely from diseases caused by or compounded by deficiencies of the antioxidant network.”
-Lester Packer, Ph.D., Director of the Packer Lab, University of California at Berkley
Conditions Most Affected by Low Antioxidant Levels
Stroke and Heart Disease
When blood flow to the brain is blocked, a stroke occurs. The damage to the brain actually happens when blood flow is restored creating a burst of free radicals. This is called a reperfusion injury. If the antioxidant defense levels are low then there is a high risk of permanent brain damage. LDL (low-density lipoproteins) are considered bad cholesterol because they transport fats towards the arteries of the heart. When LDL are exposed to oxidative stress (free radicals) in the arteries, they oxidize and stick to the arterial walls. This process leads to heart disease and stroke. If the antioxidant network is properly supported, then LDL oxidation is tremendously reduced. Regardless of our cholesterol levels, we are safe if it is not oxidizing in the arteries and therefore not sticking. The aim of modern medicine to prevent heart disease by reducing cholesterol levels has not been entirely successful as heart disease is rampant. A significant number of patients with heart disease do not even have high cholesterol levels, which questions the motivation of mass promoted drug program such as the statin drugs. If a person has low LDL levels, but there is still high free radical exposure in the arteries then that person is still at high risk for heart disease. Prevention of oxidative stress through addressing antioxidant deficiencies is a powerful and non-toxic method that works to reduce the causative factors involved in heart disease and stroke.
“I’ve been using Vitamin E in my practice for more than two decades. Based on the experiences of thousands of patients, I can say unequivocally that supplementing with Vitamin E daily is more powerful in the treatment of heart disease than making dietary changes.”
– Julian Whitaker, M.D., of the Whitaker Wellness Institute in Newport Beach, California
Diabetes
With type II diabetes, the body loses its ability to utilize carbohydrates. As the disease progresses, blood vessels begin to leak and cause serious damage to our nerves, kidneys, heart, and eyes. Much of the destruction that is inflicted by this disease is either directly or indirectly caused by free radicals. People with diabetes have significantly lower levels of antioxidants than normal. Excess diabetic blood glucose reacts with oxygen and protein. Through a process called glycation, protein molecules bond with this glucose to form advanced glycation end products (AGE). AGE can wreak havoc on virtually all other body tissues. Antioxidants can reduce damage of nerve fibers caused by AGE and can prevent AGE formation to begin with.
Immune Function
The immune system is not associated with one particular organ. It is a collection of cells that seek out and destroy bacteria, viruses, cancerous cells, and any other dangerous agents. There are many defense cells but T-cells are the main cells of the immune system. When T-cells are weakened, for example with HIV, they lose their ability to produce and transport glutathione. Once T-cells lose their antioxidant status they become vulnerable to oxidative stress. When the low antioxidant levels of HIV patients are restored, blood glutathione levels are increased which results in an increase in T-helper cells. Supplemental antioxidants increase the body’s production of glutathione and are a powerful component to immune system support.
Exercise and Chronic Inflammation
When we train our muscles, we need adequate rest and nutrition to recover or we will not get the desired results. Exercise actually creates oxidative stress. Without the proper recovery nutrients, through an antioxidant program, we are actually causing damage to our bodies and long term depletion. We must replace the antioxidants that we have depleted in order to make the gains in health and stamina that we want. Inflammation is caused by the overproduction of free radicals in specific areas of the body. Arthritis is an umbrella term for more than 100 different diseases that cause inflammation of connective tissue or degeneration of articular cartilage. Paradoxically, inflammation is the body’s natural reaction to infection or injury. The body actually produces free radicals as a defense weapon initially, but then relies on support from antioxidants to keep this production in check. Without adequate antioxidant support, we risk states of prolonged inflammation.
Bad Genes and Aging
All of us carry a few defective or potentially harmful genes. When DNA is targeted by free radicals it activates bad genes that would otherwise lay dormant. Damage or mutation of DNA can lead to cancer and other immune system disorders. By keeping our antioxidant defense system high, we reduce DNA damage and bad gene expression. Each cell has a biological clock that regulates the number of times that it can divide. This is known as the Hayflick phenomenon. Cells divide during illness or repair. The more a cell must divide, the shorter its life-span. This area of study has become known as the free radical theory of aging. There is a direct relationship to free radical damage and aging. One particular study was able to double the lifespan of cells exposed to oxidative stress by introducing increased levels of Vitamin E.
THE ESSENTIALS:
A consistent nutrient program is needed for the maintenance of optimal health. A clean whole foods diet, exercise and fresh air, along with supplementation will ensure many healthy years to come.
John C Cassone, MS, CNC
