A while ago, I was asked a very interesting question about pycnogenol. I hadn’t thought of this antioxidant (AO) for years. When I first became interested in nutrition (as a nurse, you don’t really learn much about it), acerola cherry extract seemed to be the AO of choice: it was seen to help the immune system with its Vitamin C content. And it was also known for its anti-inflammatory properties. As time went by, it was replaced as a favorite by pycnogenal, pine bark extract, another antioxidant.
Now both are replaced, in popularity, by grapeseed extract. Many people choose to use one or another.
As science, with its never ending thirst for knowledge, explores each “element” (in this case antioxidants), more is learned about the ingredients and their uses. Someone always seems to come up with another use.
We have always had products like this in nature. People have always been interested in them. But now, many more people are looking for natural remedies as an alternative to using drug recommendations.
But what interested me so much was that each is labeled as an “antioxidant”. I had become very interested in what an antioxidant was and how it functioned in the body.
Again, this kind of information wasn’t readily available to a nurse who followed “doctors’ orders”. That’s what we, as nurses, are trained to do. I had no idea that another kind of world existed.
And like most other “Meniere’s families“, we were told there was no cure, nothing to be done, you had to live with it. And that seemed unacceptable to me, but I had no clue where to look next.
The mainstream medical world had no answers. David had finished any available recommendations and treatments. Suddenly we were forced to look for other solutions to our own situation with David.
We were on our own, very lonely and confused. And very scared!
Often it takes a medical crisis to jolt you out of your narrow way of thinking. Until then, you just go along with “modern medicine”, and believe that is the best thing to do…that is the sophisticated, modern way to manage everything. I did just that, then….
It’s amazing how one email can change a life!
We suddenly learned how to use nutrients, especially antioxidants, to get over a very disruptive, very unpleasant (family) health condition.
This one email gave us an entirely new way of looking at health and healing. Suddenly, amazingly, my awareness shifted!
Here was an idea that suggested if you provide your body with a lot of certain healthy foods, it could heal itself naturally.
Nutrients?? Really??? Such an idea had NEVER EVER crossed my mind!
Strange isn’t it? As an OR nurse, natural healing was expected (bones, muscles, and skin healing), but what this email suggested was far beyond my usual everyday thinking.
Subsequently one of the very first antioxidants that came into my life was grapeseed extract. And along this learning journey, I was also taught about acerola cherries and pycnogenols: all antioxidants.
Let me give you a very brief review of how your body works because it is in the body itself that all these changes take place. Your body’s mission is to protect you, heal you, detoxify itself, and rebalance itself.
When all this is in place, you are healthy and happy.
But life doesn’t stay this way. “Things” get in the way. And in a very simplistic way, for our purposes right now, these “things” or intruders are called free radicals. These are things that upset your body’s normal, healthy routines. It forces your body to stop and heal (or fix) whatever is not “normal”.
It’s very easy to get complicated and sophisticated, or to say you aren’t smart enough to know all this. But you are. Basically, something has gotten into your body and has upset its routine. And it wants to get back to its healthy state. That is its mission until the day you die.
So let’s use one cell as representing your entire body: it makes it easier to understand. Later on, you can expand your research to look at different parts such as the heart, kidneys, skin, or in our case, the balance nerve and the hearing nerve. The basic actions are the same: the individual organ requirements might differ a little. So….
- What is an antioxidant (AO)?
- What are their desirable features?
- What do they do?
- Where do you find them?
What is an antioxidant?
An antioxidant (AO) is a molecule (a special type of tissue) that lives inside each cell. Its job is to maintain the cell health. In a way, it is the gatekeeper of your cell health, your wellbeing. Your body will look after all this balance for you, constantly and automatically. As soon as you put anything into your body, it knows what to do with it.
Your body has its own source of AOs, but in many cases, those are not enough to keep things healthy. Your environment, i.e., what you eat, what you breathe in, what additives you ingest, what soil your foods are grown in, etc. all influence your health. In other words what you put into and onto your body, will all play a part your body’s overall needs.
If you think you eat enough and well enough to be healthy, and know you are healthy, that may be enough. (Growing your own foods is really helpful, but a challenge.)
However, in many cases now, you suspect things could be better..
In that case, you can add to the “in cell” amounts by eating nutrients known to be high in AO’s, such as fruits and vegetables. By doing this, you are “topping up” your body’s supply.
For now, your job is to provide the nutrients that contain the antioxidants that allow your body to stay healthy.
Let’s assume that your body is humming along naturally with adequate amount of antioxidants. Could there be a sudden need to increase the amounts of antioxidants if your body already has its own supply?
In a brief, but very, very important word, yes, by the unexpected appearance of “free radicals”.
So…What is a free radical?
In a brief description, whereas the antioxidant is a protector or healer, the free radical causes the need for protection or healing. Free radicals are the enemy in a cell. They are like the fox in the hen house, the burglar in your home, the peace disturber.
A free radical is NOT natural to your body. It is an outsider. It is like the splinter in your finger: it has no place in your body. It needs to come out.
Can your body look after a few free radicals? Yes. But eventually, if they are not expelled from your body, they tend to congregate (build up) and end up as what is called oxidative stress. And you do NOT want that going on in your body if you already know you can get rid of this easily , effortlessly, and with a few natural nutrients.
One of our medical colleagues (Dr. Ray Strand) described free radical build up “as having the sparks from you open fire repeatedly burn tiny holes in your carpet. It’s like rusting out of your body if you don’t take steps to stop the deterioration. It all starts with a few free radicals getting out of your control.”
A few examples of free radicals are:
- Air pollution
- Drugs
- Lack of adequate sleep
- Chemicals (overuse of antibacterial products)
- Smoking
- Prolonged exercise
- A diet lacking in essential nutrients
- Infections (viral, fungal, & bacterial)
Nothing fancy or sophisticated. Basically, unhealthy things going into and onto your body, and being allowed to hang out over time.
However, in working directly with many, many people, we learned that sometimes personal products such as:
- Facial creams
- Deodorants
- Herbal or botanicals products
- Spices
- Cleaning products
were also free radicals or irritants. So by simply removing these free radicals out of the body, their symptoms were gone. Often, it’s enough just to remove the irritant. The AO’s in the body dealt with the cleanup.
I have said over and over: do not be taken in by terms such as “natural”, “organic”, or “botanical”. These have become marketing terms and tools and are now mostly meaningless. It must be very difficult for businesses who meet these stringent and costly regulations to compete with such marketing terms.
If you don’t have enough antioxidants readily available in your body, other serious conditions can develop. Heart disease, diabetes Type 2, cancer, etc. are all thought to be the results of oxidative stress.
But the wonderful thing is that having the knowledge and the powerful antioxidants on hand in your body can help with the treatment and resolution of these conditions. Do your own research, BUT know AO’s are powerful forces to use.
Some antioxidants have anti-inflammatory properties, but certainly not all anti-inflammatories are antioxidants. So know what you are dealing with: are they truly natural antioxidants or are they man-made?
I have taught many people a simple formula. In order to be healthy, the level of antioxidants in your body has to higher than the level of free radicals.
How do you know when the balance is “upside down”?
When you don’t feel well, the balance is wrong. For you to be healthy and happy, these intruders, also known as free radicals, need to be rendered harmless. In other words, neutralized.
If irritants (intruders) or free radicals are not part of your everyday life, and you eat a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and never visit a doctor for any unhealthy situations, I would just carry on.
Sadly, most of us do not have the privilege of having that great lifestyle.
We live and work in less than ideal conditions. Most of the time, you simply can’t choose where you live or what you breathe in.
However, if you just ignore the likely need for antioxidants, chances are the free radicals will end up causing oxidative stress and subsequently a lot of harm.
So you have a choice:
Either cut back on what you suspect may be causing the reaction (as a free radical) or add more antioxidants (fruits and vegetables in some form, and lots of them). I created our Study Guide to help you look for such ideas. Let me know if you would like a copy.
What are some sources of antioxidants?
As mentioned before, some are already in your body, naturally. Others can be eaten in your own diet such as fruits, vegetables, some nuts, and some dark chocolates. Still another source can come in the form of supplementation. What you are looking for is the natural sources of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E, and others.
When I first started to learn about all of this, I felt quite intimidated.
As soon as I learned that all it really meant was that I should be eating lots of fruits and vegetables and pay attention to my environment, it was easy.
At this point, you may know more about antioxidants and free radical and their actions than your medical professionals. That is fine. This is taught in some of their courses, but you need to know it as well
This isn’t too difficult to do and you don’t need anyone’s permission to do this.
You are now aware that there is something you can do right now to take control of your health. Not too difficult, right?
Once you recognize that you want to change some of the things you do, realize that this will not result in an overnight healing. It takes time, but it’s very doable. And it’s even quicker and easier if you choose to take supplements (nutrients in concentrated forms), taken daily to “supplement” your own antioxidant intake.
Although it would be practical and desirable to go to a pharmacy or health food store and pick up a bottle or two of some supplements, like drugs, these products are not all alike. Many such products do not have to follow the stringent regulations that drugs have to meet. Quality companies choose to pay for this costly regulation. So do your own research. Check out the quality companies you would like to buy from.
As long as you feel you are healthy and your body functions as you want it to, chances are you are healthy. People know how their own bodies feel.
Here is a very simple test. On a scale of 1-3, are you;
- OK
- A bit off
- Very unhealthy and very painful and uncomfortable
If you don’t feel healthy, or have “dis-ease” or discomfort, there is the strong possibility that free radicals are outnumbering your antioxidant levels. Then it’s time to ramp up the antioxidant intake (remember the need for balance).
At the beginning I mentioned the acerola cherries, pycnogenal (pine bark) ,and grapeseed extract. All were found to have “antioxidant” properties, meaning they promote health and immune support or healing. Some also have anti-inflammatory properties, meaning they reduce the inflammation set up by the body to heal the damage of the irritant or intruder, the free radical.
And many people have learned to use the properties or characteristics of antioxidants to perk up their immune systems.
Just being aware of these possibilities is so encouraging.
What is most important is the AWARENESS, the KNOWING, that you can do something to help yourself. You can choose a form of an antioxidant now that you know the different sources.
Get started. Do something to feel better.
If you are at all interested in the discovery of the use of antioxidants, read about Dr. Kenneth H Copper’s work. Read about Dr. Linus Pauling (now deceased) and his work. Through Dr. Cooper’s research with athletes, he discovered how antioxidants helped so many of them. Both were pioneers in their fields…and that wasn’t all that long ago.
- If you would like a copy of our Meniere’s Disease Study Guide, please click here. This guide is a step by step journey exploring your symptoms and what may be causing them.
- If you would like more information on the system that David, and numerous others, have used, please click here; What Finally Worked.
- If you have any health questions or concerns, please feel free to Contact Us and we will be happy to share our knowledge and ideas with you.
Karin Henderson, Retired Nurse
(604) 463-8666 – Pacific Standard Time