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In the water-filled compartments of the cell, antioxidants like glutathione and vitamin C battle oxygen species one-on-one, detoxifying them if they find one.
Reactive forms of oxygen, however, are even more soluble inside membranes, so we have membrane-bound vitamin A and vitamin E to detoxify them. This function is so essential that our cells may have one molecule of vitamin E for every 100 lipid molecules!
You might think that it would be easy to slow the aging process simply by flooding your body with more antioxidants, like vitamins A, C, and E. Many studies have been performed to test this idea, and the results have unfortunately been negative. In cases where a person has a naturally damaged system with sub-optimal levels of antioxidants, supplements do show a significant effect, helping to reduce damage by reactive oxygen and slow aging. But for most of us, the normal level of antioxidants has been honed by evolution to provide us with the maximum possible protection, so supplements of antioxidants don’t seem to help much more.
Reactive forms of oxygen, however, are even more soluble inside membranes, so we have membrane-bound vitamin A and vitamin E to detoxify them. This function is so essential that our cells may have one molecule of vitamin E for every 100 lipid molecules!
You might think that it would be easy to slow the aging process simply by flooding your body with more antioxidants, like vitamins A, C, and E. Many studies have been performed to test this idea, and the results have unfortunately been negative. In cases where a person has a naturally damaged system with sub-optimal levels of antioxidants, supplements do show a significant effect, helping to reduce damage by reactive oxygen and slow aging. But for most of us, the normal level of antioxidants has been honed by evolution to provide us with the maximum possible protection, so supplements of antioxidants don’t seem to help much more.
Another course of action, however, has shown an amazing ability to slow aging. Many animals show greatly increased lifespans, sometimes doubling the time they live, when they are given very limited diets. The diet still includes all of the nutrients needed for normal growth and maintenance, but the number of calories is greatly reduced so that the animal barely survives. The reason that the diet works is still a matter of controversy, but one theory links it back to damage by reactive oxygen. With the calorie-restricted diet, the metabolism is slowed, less oxygen is used and fewer molecules of reactive oxygen leak from the respiratory enzymes.