Antioxidant Medicines

Antioxidants can be either man-made or found in natural substances and are very helpful in preventing or delaying some types of cell damage. Antioxidants are found in many foods, including fruits and vegetables. They are also available as antioxidant medicines and supplements. Some of the types of antioxidants required by the human body include: Beta-carotene, Lutein, Lycopene, Selenium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E.

The big three antioxidant nutrients are vitamin A (beta carotene), vitamin C, and vitamin E.

Antioxidants are substances that may protect your cells against free radicals, which may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases. However due to many reasons like lifestyle, dietary pattern, etc. people are left with certain deficiencies. This is where antioxidant medicines and supplements can help. Antioxidant medicines such as vitamin C and vitamin E tablets and carotenoid medicines can help people in getting the required nutrients and thus protect cells from damage.

For most people nutrients found in food alone can’t compensate if they have any kind of deficiency. For example, people with osteoporosis might need extra calcium and vitamin D or vegetarians might need iron or vitamin B12. This is where antioxidant medicines or supplements help them. Also impurities and contamination in vegetables and fruits, which are supposed to be powerhouses of natural antioxidants, leave people consuming them with a deficit in the daily ORAC units.  Additionally, antioxidant medicines and supplements may actually help address oxidative stress.

The ORAC unit (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), also known as ORAC value, or ORAC score is a method developed by scientists at the National Institute of Health and Aging (NIH) to measures the antioxidant capacity of different foods. Based on their findings the optimum daily intake of antioxidants is also determined by an ORAC unit.

Although there is no officially recommended daily intake of antioxidants, most researchers suggest an optimal intake to be 3000-5000 ORAC units per day, with the USDA suggesting a daily intake of 5000 ORAC units.

Yes, green tea is loaded with polyphenol antioxidants, including a catechin called EGCG and these antioxidants are known to have various beneficial effects on one’s health.

Several scientific studies involving tens of thousands of subjects combined with rigorous tests have from time to time tried to find whether antioxidant medicines or supplements can actually help prevent chronic diseases, such as cancer, cataract or cardiovascular diseases. In most cases although there were some positive signs, there was no concrete evidence that antioxidant medicines or supplements reduced the risks of developing these diseases.

Vegetables and fruits are rich sources of natural antioxidants. There is proven evidence that a diet that includes plenty of vegetables and fruits is healthy and can lower risks of several diseases; however. Having said that it is not clear whether these results are related to the amount of antioxidants in vegetables and fruits, or to other factors in people’s diets, or to other lifestyle choices, or to other components of these foods. Nevertheless, it is best to get all your nutrients, including antioxidants, from your food rather than from supplements.