What is the best antioxidant?

Everywhere you turn these days you see advice about getting more antioxidants in your diet, in your skin care products, and your vitamins. The theory about oxidative damage as a major factor in aging has been around for several decades, and it’s a good one. It’s those products of metabolic combustion (we are essentially burning caloric fuel with oxygen) that cause so much damage to our DNA, which in turn means the proteins and other things that constitute the tissues of our bodies improperly manufactured. Eventually, things just break down. So if we can limit the oxidation, we can slow down aging.
That’s where antioxidants come in. For years, faith was placed in the antioxidant vitamins (A,C, and E) for salvation, but every major study has found no benefit to taking supplements above the recommended daily allowance. It’s not for lack of studies, there are actually dozens of them, there is just no benefit and it appears that it may actually be harmful. But don’t look to this lack of effect to question the antioxidant theory, it’s just that there are better antioxidants out there. These are a family of molecules called polyphenols, which include the pigments in berries and fruits, and the now famous extracts of wine such as resveratrol.
So which one is best? I’m banking on the wine polyphenols. A couple of years ago, I tested a skin care product containing resveratrol at the same concentration as another antioxidant called idebenone in the product Prevage. Previously, Prevage had tested their formula against all other antioxidants out there: alpha lipoic acid, vitamins, you name it. Prevage announced that it was the strongest antioxidant on the market. But using a standard antioxidant test called ORAC (there are different ways to measure antioxidant potency) we found that the resveratrol product was 17 times stronger.
So rather than pumping vitamins, it makes the most sense to just eat whole foods with antioxidants already in. These include pigmented berries, pomegranate juice, acai, and of course red wine.

Beyond the yellow brick road: More on Dr. Oz and resveratrol

A couple of weeks ago I posted a piece titled “A view from the emerald city” (meaning evergreen Seattle, of course) about Dr. Mehmet Oz’s endorsement of resveratrol supplements. During one of his appearances on Oprah, he spoke favorably about resveratrol, the substance from red wine that has such impressive anti-aging properties. Since reports about resveratrol’s ability to extend lifespan in certain organisms, and its possible anti-cancer, ant-diabetes, and anti-Alzheimer’s potential, it has been widely touted. In a couple of short years it went from a substance few had heard of (and couldn’t pronounce if they had) to the latest miracle cure available from literally hundreds of internet sites. Dr. Oz is featured as a prominent endorser for some, even giving the impression that the product is his own creation.
But there are a couple of problems. First, despite the promise of resveratrol as an anti-aging remedy, it has not been proven in people. More to the point here is that it turns out that Dr. Oz has nothing to do with any of these companies. He may wish he had if anything is eventually proven about their effectiveness, but my hunch is that it will be synthetically derived pharmaceuticals based on the molecular structure of resveratrol that will prove to be the real deal. There are some uses that make sense, such as in skin care, where it can be applied directly instead of depending on absorption through the digestive tract, but in general the resveratrol supplement market has all the trappings of the snake oil salesmen that used to roam the west preying on the naïve. So kudos to Oz for staying above the fray (or behind the curtain) and remember he doesn’t really offer anything that you don’t already have: common sense about diet and exercise for the heart, and the courage and wisdom to make the right choices.