A few days ago, we received this question form Dagmar in Germany...

“I’m looking for the best antioxidants produkt. Hope, you can help me.”

Here is our reply...

Hi Dagmar,

Thanks for your question about antioxidants - and thanks very much for your donation to SupplementWatch!

When it comes to antioxidants, it is hard to define a "best" antioxidant because different antioxidants are most effective against different free radicals (the reactive molecules that cause cellular damage).

We see many marketing claims about certain antioxidant nutrients - like goji berries - or vitamin E - as the "best" or "most powerful" antioxidant - BUT we like to see antioxidant products include at least one member of each of the main categories within the Antioxidant Network.

The Antioxidant Network is the "family" of antioxidant nutrients that are found inside, outside, and between cells. It is important to get a wide variety of different types of  antioxidants in the diet because different antioxidants counteract damage by different types of free radicals - and within different cellular compartments.

There are 5 main components of the Antioxidant Network:

1. Vitamin C = from citrus fruits and strawberries are your best food source - supplements should bring intake up to 250mg/dose and 500-1,000mg/day

2. Vitamin E = from almonds and other nuts are your best food source - but these are very high calorie, so a daily supplement up to 400IU/day of natural E (d-alpha tocopherol) may be warranted

3. Flavonoids = from grapes, red wine, grape juice, pomegranate juice, dark chocolate, most berries, and green tea are the best food sources - a diet with 5-10 servings of fruits/veggies might contain 100-200mg/day of flavonoids - supplements of grape seed extract or green tea extract can be added as a good source of flavonoids

4. Carotenoids = from sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, tomato sauce/ ketchup are your best food sources - a diet with 5-10 servings of fruits/veggies will provide 10-20mg of carotenoids - supplements can be added, but avoid high dose and unbalanced supplements of synthetic carotenoids (such as taking beta-carotene alone at high dose).

5. Thiols = aside from protein foods (which contain cysteine, an antioxidant amino acid), thiols are rare in the food supply - but we know that supplements of alpha-lipoic acid and cysteine help the body to produce more of its own antioxidant enzymes (such as glutathione peroxidase - one of the cell's most potent free radical fighters).

Another way to think about getting lots of "high antioxidant" foods into your diet would be to do so by "color"

-Red, Orange, Yellow foods tend to be high in carotenoids

-Green foods can be high is either/both flavonoids and carotenoids - but they are certainly high in chlorophyll (the green pigment that protects the plant from the oxidizing rays of the sun - but also hides the other colors)

-Blue, Indigo, and Violet foods tend to be high in flavonoids

OK - so what is our "favorite" antioxidant product? It's from a little company in Vermont, USA called New Chapter and the product is called "Supercritical Antioxidants" (contains turmeric, green tea, clove, ginger, parsley, peppermint, and rosemary) - it is not "perfect" but it is pretty close and it is very well-balanced and has excellent research in humans.

If you are looking for more of a multivitamin product that provides other nutrients along with a strong antioxidant profile then the top two choices are LifePak from Nuskin/Pharmanex (also in the USA, but with a German/EU branch) and Intense Defense from Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition (also in the USA, but can ship to Germany).

We hope that helps answer your questions and provide some guidance for you in choosing an antioxidant supplement.

In Health,

SupplementWatch Technical Staff

www.supplementwatch.com