*Intro* <antioxadv.

htm> *Free Radicals and Nature's Antioxidants *Your Antioxidant Status* *What Does This Mean For Me?* Oxidative Damage *

Nature's Antioxidants -----------------------------------------------------------------------Free Radical Natural Antioxdants. Professor Barry Halliwell of King?s College in London defines antioxidants as any substance that delays or inhibits oxidative damage to a target molecule. Antioxidants protect from damage from free radicals in several ways: * Prevent the formation of excess free radicals. * Scavenge the free radicals after they are formed and before they damage other molecules. * Repair damaged molecules or replace them with new ones. Our cells survive the onslaughts of free radicals and the oxidative damage they cause because they developed formidable antioxidant defenses. In the battle against free radicals, antioxidants themselves become free radicals. /*The key is that they react very slowly and can be regenerated back to their original form or be disposed safely. */ Antioxidants might help stem the damage by neutralizing free radicals. In effect they perform as cellular sheriffs, collaring the radicals and hauling them away. TIME, April 6, 1992 Vitamin E ? an example of the antioxidant function o First it is a chain-braking antioxidant and protects the lipids, which keep the membrane /*fluid*/. Other chain-breaking antioxidants, however, cannot do the same job. Why? o Vitamin E has a unique structure that comes very handy. Other antioxidants don?t! Its tail is lipophilic and its head is slightly hydrophilic. This combination gives it unique properties. Like a soldier in the foxhole! Like a sentry on the wall! It anchors itself in the membrane ? its lipophilic tail going deep in the membrane. Its hydrophilic head stays closer to the surface. o It is a fierce fighter. Unlike the ancient fighters that used arrows and primitive weapons, vitamin E uses star-war technology ? electrons. Each molecule of tocopherol protects 1000 fatty acids. Scientists believe that its position allows it to be regenerated by vitamin C and other antioxidants. Membranes protect every vital organelle of the cell from the nucleus, which houses our genetic code, the DNA, to the mitochondria, the minute power plants of the cell. Leaky membranes spell major trouble!. Vitamin E protects membranes like no other antioxidant!/*

Cell MembraneVitamin E is positioned strategically in membranes because of its unique structure. It anchors itself in the membrane with the hydrophobic (water hating) tail in the interior of the membrane. The hydrophilic (water loving) head is in the hydrophilic area of the membrane. The bilayer structure of membranes creates two hydrophilic sides - one phasing inside the cell and one phasing outside. This is the results of two rows of phosholipids arranged with their hydrophobic (water hating) sites facing each other. This arrangement creates a hydrophobic interior. The hydrophilic sites of the phospholipids on either of the membrane create a water friendly environment, which is critical for the nutrition and function of the cell. Proteins (enzymes) embedded in the bilayer, control the transport of molecules across the membrane. Alpha-tocopherol is the dominant form of vitamin E in membranes. The other forms are found in much smaller amounts. Alpha-tocopherol is the most common form of vitamin E found in membranes followed by gamma-tocopherol.