Nearly everyone has heard of antioxidants and the free radicals that they neutralize. Vitamins A, C, E, and other antioxidant vitamins are now household words. We tend to think of free radicals as the “bad guys” and antioxidants as “good guys”. The flame of our life, however, is oxidation—the controlled burning of fuel to produce energy. Free radicals are natural by-products of this process, and are also generated and used by our immune cells in carrying out their ordinary tasks to help maintain a healthy body.

Antioxidants represent  the “insulation” that allows us to safely handle this “fire”, thus protecting our cells while the fire “warms our house”. Processes that increase production of free radicals are collectively referred to as “oxidative stress”.

Cellular protection is determined by the balance between oxidative stress and antioxidant intake, along with the reserves maintained in your body.

There is a baseline level of oxidative stress simply from using oxygen to burn fuel for the production of energy, which is necessary to stay alive and be active.

Many factors of modern life, however, have increased oxidative stress dramatically:  smoking (both active and passive), alcohol, non-prescription and prescription drugs, environmental pollution, high altitude jet travel, and exposure to other chemicals. Cigarette smoke, for example, contains thousands of different chemicals, and a single puff of cigarette smoke contains trillions of free radicals. Cigarette smoke literally burns away antioxidant nutrients. Cigarette tars are long-lived free radical generators.

Multiple Antioxidants Provide More Protection

Antioxidant nutrients function most effectively as a network. They  donate   electrons  to the highly reactive unstable free radicals in order to “quench” them, making them chemically stable again, thus terminating their chain reactions. Molecules without antioxidant properties may perpetuate these chain reactions that  attack cell membranes and DNA, as well as other cellular structures.

An antioxidant, in the process of quenching a free radical by donating its electron(s), becomes oxidized itself, and must be regenerated into its “reduced” (the opposite of oxidized) form in order to become a functional antioxidant molecule again.

Maintaining a broad spectrum of various types of antioxidant nutrients, rather than larger amounts of just one single antioxidant, is essential to promoting your good health.

When a single antioxidant nutrient is present in larger amounts, there is a chance it will function as an oxidant, in the absence of partners to recycle it back to its antioxidant state. In this situation, the process of stabilizing a free radical is incomplete and the antioxidant becomes a free radical itself, by perpetuating, rather than terminating, the chain reaction.

This principle may explain the paradoxical effect seen in a study of smokers in Finland who were given large amounts of synthetic beta-carotene to see if it would protect them from lung cancer; the result was an increase by nearly 20% of lung cancer cases in the beta-carotene supplemented group.

In another example, laboratory research has shown that vitamin E added to cholesterol in the absence of Co-Q-10 (another important fat-soluble antioxidant) will actually promote oxidation of the cholesterol, whereas, if Co-Q-10 is also present, the cholesterol is protected from oxidation. Co-Q-10 is contained in every living cell (hence its scientific name ubiquinone, because of its ubiquitous nature) and is necessary for human life to exist.

The above examples illustrate why it is important to supplement with a wide variety of antioxidant nutrients, rather than just a few.

One exception to this is OPC, which has the inherent ability to function as an antioxidants network by itself.

Because Co-Q-10 is quite expensive, it is usually provided as a single product supplement, combined with a source of fat (such as vitamin E or lecithin), to enhance its absorption, or formulated in lower amounts when combined in a multiple antioxidant supplement.

Many cardiologists and researchers believe that minimizing oxidized cholesterol, in addition to other important nutritional  factors, is essential to maintaining healthy arteries and promoting already healthy cholesterol levels.

Includes Both Water-soluble and Fat-soluble Antioxidants

Because antioxidants function in your body as an interacting network, it makes sense to eat a well-balanced diet, rich in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables that contain many different antioxidant compounds.

You should be sure to include a wide range of antioxidants, some of which work in the water-soluble areas of the body (like vitamin C) and others that work in the fat-soluble areas of the body (like vitamins A, E and Co-Q-10).

Depending upon your diet and lifestyle, you may not always maintain adequate levels of the broad spectrum of antioxidants needed for optimum function of the interacting antioxidant network in your body. Therefore, to guarantee that your body retains the proper antioxidant reserves, you may want to take these antioxidants on a daily basis, reinforcing your diet with nutritional supplements that contain higher levels of a wide range of antioxidants.

Xtra Antioxidants contains many different potent antioxidant nutrients and extracts from certain plants known to be particularly rich in antioxidant compounds, such as polyphenols and flavonoids.

Included in this formula are high-quality, concentrated extracts from the following plant sources:

• Turmeric (95% curcuminoids)
• Milk-thistle seed (80% Silymarin)
• Noni fruit
• Bilberry fruit
• Rosemary
• Ginkgo leaves
• Citrus fruit
• Soy
• Green tea leaves

Additional powerful antioxidant compounds that are also plant-derived such as hesperidin, quercetin, lycopene, lutein, and alpha-lipoic acid are also included.

Several of these compounds appear to have unique properties that make them particularly supportive and protective against oxidative stress in  specific organs, for example:  Ginkgo biloba and alpha-lipoic acid for the brain; lycopene for the prostate; lutein and bilberry for the eyes; and milk thistle and alpha-lipoic acid for the liver.

Glutathione, a peptide linkage of three amino acids (L-glutamic acid, L-cysteine, and L-glycine), is part of the fundamental antioxidant system present in every cell of virtually all animals.

Lutein promotes healthy immune function. There are already over 250 scientific articles referring to lutein’s potential in promoting the growth of healthy cells. Animal studies have shown that lutein supports the growth of natural white blood cells in mice, among other health promoting factors.

Lycopene is a natural carotenoid that has potent antioxidant activities. It is responsible for the bright red color of tomatoes, red grapefruit, guava, and watermelon, which are the richest natural sources of this carotenoid.

Lycopene is better absorbed from cooked tomato products than from raw tomatoes.

Research has also shown that lycopene supplements actually raise tissue stores of this carotenoid better than tomato juice.

Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is equally soluble in lipids (fats and oils) and water, and so can move easily throughout both the lipid and water compartments of the body, enter the brain easily, and is especially effective at quenching free radicals within cell membranes. It is well absorbed when taken orally and  regenerates most of the other antioxidants including vitamins C and E, as well as co-enzyme Q-10. It is the most effective nutritional antioxidant in bolstering cellular and tissue levels of glutathione, which is a master physiological antioxidant that orchestrates the biological interaction of many other antioxidants.

Alpha & Beta Carotenes

Naturally this formula would not be complete without the “standard” antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E, as well as a natural carotenoid complex, which contains many carotene compounds derived from colored vegetables, including beta and alpha carotenes; cryptoxanthin, and zeaxanthin. In addition to their other important nutritional functions, folic acid (a B vitamin) and selenium (a mineral) serve as critical antioxidants.

Selenium is a trace mineral that activates an antioxidant enzyme called glutathione peroxidase, which help protect the body from free radical attack. Selenium also enhances the antioxidant effect of vitamin E. Additionally it is needed to activate thyroid hormones. Though many nutrition experts recommend at least 200 mcg daily, the Daily Value (DV) of selenium is  only 70 mcg.

Many people don't even get 70 mcg of this critical nutrient unless their diet includes selenium-containing supplements or selenium-rich foods, such as yeast, whole grains, seafood, garlic, onion, Brazil nuts, or broccoli. Even these foods vary widely in their selenium content depending on the selenium content of the soil in which they were grown.  Brazil nuts are the richest known source of selenium; one ounce contains approximately 200 mcg. Selenium is also essential for healthy immune function.

Since the discovery that the central human retina (called the macula) concentrates two particular carotenoids, known as lutein and zeaxanthin, much research attention has been focused on these particular members of the carotene family. These carotenoids are found in highest concentrations in kale, spinach, collard greens, romaine lettuce, leeks, peas, and egg yolks.

People who eat a lot of spinach and kale, which are rich sources of lutein and zeaxanthin, have been reported to help maintain healthy youthful vision. Lutein and zeaxanthin, like the other carotenoids, are potent antioxidants. Lutein is also the only carotenoid found in the lens of the eye as well as in the macula of the retina which contains the highest concentration of light-sensitive nerve receptors.

Carotenoids are brightly colored compounds that provide red, orange, and yellow coloring to many fruits and vegetables. For decades, they were dismissed as mere food colorants, but today they are known to be vitally important to health. Virtually all of them have been found to be potent antioxidants, which protect various body tissues from free radical attack. Carotenoids found in foods and thought to be of greatest importance to health include alpha and beta carotene, lutein, lycopene, cryptoxanthin, and zeaxanthin. These are all found in natural carotenoid complexes, extracted from carotene rich plant food sources.

Therefore, carotenoid complexes have been included in Xtra Antioxidants to provide you with one of the most complete broad-spectrum antioxidant supplements on the market today.

Many people desire greater antioxidant protection than their diet and multi-vitamin/mineral supplement can provide; therefore, Xtra Antioxidants is an ideal choice.

A healthful diet, pure drinking water, regular exercise, meditation, and/or other stress management techniques, plus Xtra Antioxidants are enormously useful tools for the pursuit and maintenance of wellness.