Antioxidants: Perfect Panacea or Potential Toxins?

By Raluca Schachter
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

“Antioxidant” — these days, definitely a buzz word used by everyone interested in holistic health, or hoping to find a panacea for their multitude of ailments. Look online or in health food stores today and you’ll find a huge variety of precious antioxidants for sale – capsules, powders, fruits and tinctures from all over the world. Most of us have now found out about acai, maqui, goji berries, raw chocolate, green tea, blueberries and the rest.

Antioxidants are feted for their never ending list of health benefits… but are they really the magical cure-alls we’re led to believe? As so often the case, it’s not quite that simple. 

What Are Antioxidants and Why Do We Need Them?

An antioxidant is a nutrient or a molecule capable of suppressing the oxidation of another molecule. Antioxidants suppress the negative effects of excess free radicals. They are of two kinds: exogenous (from food, like vitamins C,E, A, D) or endogenous (produced by the organism: catalase, superoxide dismutase, gluthation, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid.)