SMART ANTIOXIDANTS FOR YOUR MIND: VITAMIN C

The brain has special vitamin Ñ pumps that concentrate the antioxidant ten to fifteen times the concentration carried in the blood for good reason: Of all the known antioxidants found in the body, the most powerful is vitamin C. Vitamin Ñ is superior in its free-radical quenching ability to other water-soluble antioxidants, such as uric acid; bilirubin; and sulfur-containing amino acids like cysteine and methionine. Recent research has shown that although the antioxidants that mix well with fats (including vitamin E, beta-carotene, and coenzyme Q10) can reduce (but not eliminate) the damage from free radicals in the brain, they are unable to prevent the initiation of free-radical damage. Only vitamin Ñ is powerful enough to intercept the chemicals (oxidants) that start the free-radical chain reaction. Vitamin Ñ traps free radicals that escape all other free-radical defense systems in the body. It is the only antioxidant found in the body that is capable of completely protecting blood lipids against peroxidative damage from cigarette smoke, thus strengthening the argument that vitamin Ñ supplementation is essential for all who breathe cigarette smoke, either directly or indirectly.

Vitamin Ñ does not work alone and should be viewed as only one link (albeit an essential one) in the antioxidant chain. It has been shown to work closely with another antioxidant, glutathione (a "tripeptide," which is composed of three amino acids). Glutathione, not vitamin C, is probably the pivotal water-soluble antioxidant inside the cell (since vitamin Ñ is water soluble, it cannot penetrate each cell's lipid, or fatty membrane).

Although vitamin Ñ cannot scavenge free radicals within the lipid region of brain neurons, another antioxidant, vitamin E, which is located in the lipid portion of cell membranes, helps suppress free-radical attacks, being consumed in the process. When vitamin Ñ is present in sufficient quantities, free radicals are quenched for a longer period and as efficiently as if additional vitamin E were present. Furthermore, the rate of the free-radical destruction of vitamin E can be decreased by the presence of vitamin C. Vitamin Ñ thus acts as a synergist with vitamin E because it helps regenerate vitamin E after it has been "exhausted" in its role of quenching free radicals. Vitamin Ñ is a safe, inexpensive, and nontoxic antioxidant and provides one of the brain's most powerful defenses against free-radical damage. Dosage: 1,000-3,000 g per day.

Vitamin C-rich Foods

Black currants

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Collards

Grapefruit

Kale

Kiwi

Lemons

Oranges Papayas

Peppers (green, sweet red, chili

peppers) Potatoes Spinach Strawberries Tomatoes Watercress

*24\244\2*