The DNA of antioxidants

Hardly a week goes by without news of antioxidants' health-promoting benefits. Experts believe these nutritional substances may help prevent heart disease, fight certain cancers, ward off dementia, and even slow certain aging processes.

There are thousands of antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, meats, poultry, and fish. Even foods once not known for being especially healthful, such as chocolate, coffee, and red wine, are now recognized as potent delivery systems for beneficial antioxidants.

However, the growing number of antioxidants being discovered (so far, there are more than 4,000 known flavonoids, and that's only one class of antioxidant) and the continual discoveries of new antioxidant food sources cloud understanding of these substances.

"Most people know that calcium is good for bone health, for example, but they don't know specifically what antioxidants do or how these chemicals benefit human health," says Milton Stokes, R.D,. a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

Read on as we simplify the latest science to answer those questions for you.

Antioxidants 101

We need oxygen to live. It travels from the lungs to every corner of the body, helping cells metabolize food into energy. But oxygen has a downside. Normally, the molecules in our cells have a full set of electrons, which keep them stable (think of them as a fortress surrounding a castle). But when these molecules come into contact with oxygen (i.e., they are "oxidized") they lose an electron, converting to an unstable type of molecule known as a free radical.

"Free radicals, if left unchecked, assault whatever cell constituents are nearby, including proteins, fats, and DNA," says Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton. "Once those molecules are attacked, their structure and function are changed and they don't work as well."

Ingeniously, Mother Nature created an instant free-radical fix. Antioxidants disable free radicals by donating electrons to replace those lost during oxidation. Some antioxidants can be manufactured by your body; others must be obtained from food. Dietary antioxidants fall into two groups. The first is made up of certain familiar vitamins and minerals, like vitamins C and E, selenium, and zinc, that have antioxidant capabilities. The second consists of the thousands of organic compounds found in plant foods that have functions like giving grapes their purple skins or cabbages their slightly sulfurous odor. They have names like anthocyanidins, catechins, lutein, quercetin, and resveratrol.

Preventing oxidation may have earned antioxidants their name, but we now know these substances do more than disable free radicals. Antioxidants also help reduce inflammation, keep arteries flexible, and preserve the genetic material every cell contains to prevent mutation. Each antioxidant also offers unique perks. For example, flavonoids in berries may help improve artery health, while lutein in spinach may help prevent macular degeneration.

Sorting out food sources

To measure a food's antioxidant content, scientists test it in a lab, where they usually measure equal quantities of each food they test. However, that amount may not be close to the serving size we usually eat. Realizing this, many-but not all-researchers convert their findings to common portion sizes before publishing the results of their work. That's one reason why Monday's health news may place blueberries on top of the antioxidant heap, while Thursday's may claim broccoli contains the highest levels of the compounds. Cooking Light: USDA's rankings of food antioxidant content

Also, several kinds of tests are used to measure a food's antioxidant power, another reason for the multiplicity of findings. The most popular test is Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). ORAC measures an antioxidant's ability to protect against the most common free radical in human plasma, the peroxyl radical.

ORAC is a helpful starting point to guide consumers to foods that are rich in antioxidants as part of a diet that contains many different antioxidant-rich foods, especially since new antioxidants are being discovered all the time. But most nutrition researchers view antioxidant-counting surveys critically. How a food behaves in a test tube is one thing; how it behaves in our bodies is another.

"We don't know as much about what happens during digestion, absorption, and metabolism," says Ronald L. Prior, Ph.D., a research chemist with the USDA's Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center. "Some of these compounds may be absorbed well and others not as well." Anthocyanidin-rich blueberries are a good example. They may be antioxidant powerhouses in a test tube, but we don't absorb their antioxidants well and their effectiveness in our bodies is short lived. To gain the full benefit, you'd likely need to eat more of them than foods with a lower ORAC score that contain more readily absorbable antioxidants, such as kiwifruit or grapes.

What's more, antioxidant levels vary among different samples of the same food. For example, all apples don't have the same amount of quercetin and all lettuces don't provide the same dose of lutein. "The variability has to do with the climate, the nutrients in the soil, and storage conditions," Vinson says.

Eating for optimal nutrition

When it comes to dietary antioxidants, variety and timing are the key points.

Experts agree-while there's no formal recommendation for the amount of antioxidants we need-the best way to obtain them is from a varied diet. The reason? Antioxidants work synergistically and may provide a greater benefit together than they do individually. Consider a recent European Journal of Clinical Nutrition study that found the total antioxidants in a person's diet had a more substantial impact on plasma beta-carotene levels than the amount of beta-carotene in a person's diet. Researchers surmise other antioxidants pitch in to "spare" beta-carotene so it can work harder when it's needed. The same is true for other antioxidant vitamins. By consuming antioxidant-rich foods, you end up protecting or recycling compounds like vitamins C and E, increasing their levels so they're more available to function.

Unlike many other nutrients, you can't store antioxidants, so you have to keep replenishing the supply. "The important thing is getting antioxidants throughout the day and keeping levels high because they go down very quickly," Vinson says. Even small amounts can provide significant benefits. When German researchers recently looked at the impact of small amounts of polyphenols in dark chocolate on blood pressure, they found that just 0.2 ounces of dark chocolate shaved three systolic points and two diastolic points off hypertensive subjects' blood pressure.

As for supplements? Experts aren't as enthusiastic. Supplements are not substitutes for a healthy diet. "People tend to focus on a single nutrient because that's what research may be highlighting," says Jeffery Blumberg, Ph.D., director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University. "But the benefits of eating lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can't be overemphasized. You need to have diversity in your diet, and there is no pill that provides it all."

The unknowns about antioxidants provide another reason to focus on food sources. "Because the science of nutrition is still evolving, we have to accept that everything there is to know isn't known," Stokes says. "Until then, just eat healthful whole foods." Cooking Light: Nine nutritional authorities share their perfect foods

The ABCs of antioxidants

Although scientists speculate that many antioxidants are as yet undiscovered, others are increasingly well known. Below are antioxidants you may have read about; they're categorized by family of associated compounds and listed with some of their most common food sources. Cooking Light: Why different colored foods are important

Carotenoids

Beta-carotene: Orange/yellow fruits and vegetables (carrots, cantaloupe); dark leafy greens (spinach, kale)

Lycopene: Red-fleshed fruits and vegetables (watermelon, tomato)

Lutein/Zeaxanthin: Romaine lettuce, dark leafy greens, citrus fruits, corn, egg yolks

Flavonoids

Anthocyanidins: Berries, grapes, wine

Catechins: Tea, cocoa

Flavonols: Tea, cocoa, coffee, berries, grapes, apples, wine

Flavonones: Citrus fruits

Isoflavones/Phytoestrogens (daidzein, equol, enterolactone, genistein): Soybeans, whole wheat, flaxseed

Quercetin: Apples, tea, capers, citrus fruits

Organosulfurs: Cabbages, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower

Selenium: Brazil nuts, red meat, tuna

Sulfides: Onions, garlic, leeks, chives

Vitamin C: Citrus fruits, bell peppers, broccoli, kiwifruit

Vitamin E (tocopherols): Wheat germ, mono-unsaturated oils (sunflower oil, safflower oil), tree nuts (almonds, hazelnuts), peanuts

The question that needs to be asked: Is it realistic to think one can eat all these sources of nutrients from their normal food forms every day?

I don't know about you, but I have tried the above list and found being that food focused required way more time grocery shopping, food prepping and exercising off the excess calories from eathing that much than I would want as a lifestyle! I personally like to eat as little as possible to fuel myself at top levels of performance mentally, physically and emotionally and that usually means easy to digest simple protiens, salads, small portions of slow to go into the blood stream carbs and my supplements in the morning with a continuous supply of pure water throughout the day.

This is exactly why I incorporated GBG's Liquid Multi-vitamin and MA Plus into my diet.

The objective is to get the nutrients in ratios and formulas my body can use and move on with the rest of my day!

You can explore that option and get your own supply factory direct at wholesale prices at: if you need help email, call or text me via the number or email option on my GBG site.

Is There Really a Better Way to Fuel Your Body and Provision Your Life?

How do we go about taking care of this "Space Suit" God gave us to walk out his will for our lives? How do we align ourselves for the best possible use of our time on the Earth? Has God inspired a better way to be provisioned than a traditional 9-5 or more job?

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "You cannot serve (bow before) God and mammon." God, not money, must be our master. If we tithe, give to the poor, and do not let money rule us, wealth can certainly become our servant, and thus a blessing to us and others. But if we allow finances to rule us, mammon can easily become a false god adding stress and greed to our existence. Yet, remember: Jesus did not say we couldn't have money; He said we couldn't serve money. The voice of mammon must be subdued if the Lord alone is to be our Master.

In todays times developing a good financial-support system that allows the Lord to provision us and to not live as "slaves to our jobs" or to debt is important.

I work as an Internet Dept. Manager for a local Honda Dealer.

I get a small salary that's a little bigger than my family of 5's grocery bill. The rest of what I earn is mostly bonuses for the number of Internet Dept customers that report back to Corporate Honda that they felt perfectly served during the Internet and in person stage of buying their Honda at wholesale prices.

If any one customer reports they were not completely happy with any part of the process that little mark can cause up to 2/3's of my income to not be paid out for the month! One of the strange things about how Honda grades our performance is that on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest score a 4 or less rating is an unhappy customer to Honda and our dealership. (When I was in high school 80% was still a B. A - "B" was not a bad thing....

Obviously one can't expect every customer to be completely happy with everything. I've had some tell me they don't give anyone an "A" or top score. Anything can be improved! I've seen plenty that actually insist that the process has to be more difficult and told me I made it too easy!

Well, all that outlined was just to state some of the land mines of everyday life that can get being provisioned adequately. I'm sure many of you have some form of land mines or limitations put on provision also.

With the economy in the tank I see it as even more important that we all begin to "think outside the box" for how will we align ourselves with a dependable cash flow when mainstream means are becoming unpredictable?

God put upon my heart long ago that a good financial-support system should not rob us of our time with family, serving our community or the maintenance of our health.

I've looked at many things I could do from home and asked the Lord to give me his take on what would serve his plan for my life...

I've been a believer in supplements for all my adult life after learning back in the 70's that most foods are not grown in their ideal conditions to make them truly full of nutrients and free of poisons that can effect the function of cells and systems in bad ways over time.

I've consumed 20-30 different brands of pill based supplements over my 30 yrs of experimenting.

I found that none of them gave me the balanced support I was looking for that would allow nutrition (Like an ideal financial support system) to become a back ground event instead of a requiring me to be "food focused".

Well God does listen and does answer prayers...

When I least expected it he introduced me to a comprehensively simple package that takes care of all the large and small vitamins, minerals and other elements the body needs to sustain and adapt and the company that supplys it offers a very eloquent opportunity for provision as a "back ground event"

It doesn't get anymore blatant than a company who's initials are: GBG (I later found out that it's owners are servants of the Lord Jesus and seek him in all their key decision making.)

I invite you to explore GBG's products and if you choose to give them a go you can by past paying retail on our site by choosing the wholesale option with no strings attached! They do offer a 60 day money back guarantee on their products and in doing so you get a free website that you can refer others to if you choose to share your new good fortune. All they ask is that opt for an automatic shipment equaling at least 1 product per month to qualify for wholesale status. (The liquid multivitamin at $20.00 is a months supply for 1 person and would take care of that request.)

Over time the new customers you refer (If you choose to refer anyone... That's not mandatory even if you have a website) who refer others in turn can equal growing checks to you monthly that eliminate your product cost and can go on to grow quite large, even replacing a traditional job. (Note: 5 person referals that set up an autoship = your liquid multivitamins are now free! I don't know about you but for referring a hand full of people who find they love the effects of these supplements and choose to consume them monthly your supply is now free! What a wonderful way to provide!) Let those folks do the same and over time with the grace of the Lord your job income will be replaced.

The first link on the top of the list on the right. Look at the 2 supplements offered and the financial support system built into their distribution system.

Then ask the Lord if this is what he's been leading you to. Ask him if this is one the "Streams of Living Water" and "Manna from Heaven" he promised for your life.

All I ask of you is that you consider bareing your soles to the Lord!

Running On Empty... Powered By the Lord

The Lord is teaching me more and more each day how intimately involved in every detail of my life.

Whether it's the quality of my sleep, the balance of my center of gravity while running, sitting, walking what have you. Even the very thoughts that pop into my head sometimes.

Last Sunday Papa put it on my heart to begin fasting.... For a split second I was concerned about how I could fast knowing I do run 10 miles per day back and forth to work... barefoot mind you...

Well, it's day 3 and 30 miles later and I actually feel really good! I've dropped about 6 lbs. and but my commute time seems to be staying in the 50 min in and 1 hr home range. Bruised my feet a bit on some rocks yesterday going in so I wore my Vibram's home and in and back today tomorrow they'll be ready for barefooting again. Thought my recovery and tissue repair would go down but they havent.

My sustainance is composed of a 1 oz shot of GBG Liquid Multivitamin and Mineral, pure bottled and filtered water all day, 1 glass of tomatoe juice, about ever 2-3 hrs I have a teaspoon of a mixture of MA-Plus and store bought protien powder. Today I added a small amount of Gatorade powder to the mix for a bit more electrolytes. Temps in the 70+ range lately.

The amazing thing to me right now is that I've tried fasting by my own choice over the past year or 2 and it's night and day difference when God tells one too vs self. I've had zero interest in table food of any kind even though it's been offered to me all day at work and I come home my lovely wifes amazing art work fresh off the stove. (For the kids)

I don't know how long he will have me fasting but I'm actually enjoying not having to fix breakfast or lunch and my running gate is becoming even smoother.

Lord thank you for coaching my steps.... You keep pickin em up and I'll keep puttin em down....


I will run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free." - Psalm 119:32 strong>