Antioxidant Supplements versus Health Benefits of Brief/Intermittent Exposure to Potentially Toxic Physical or Chemical Agents

Although antioxidants can act locally to react with an oxidant, oral administration of “antioxidants” is quite useless in treating oxidative stress in tissues. Furthermore, it does not make sense to consider a vitamin as an antioxidant, but vitamin B3 leads to the in vivo formation of compounds that are essential for reducing this stress. A rigorous treatment of the subject indicates that to deal with oxidative stress, the most direct approach is to enhance the innate antioxidant mechanisms. The question is whether this is possible through daily activities. Diets can contain the necessary components for these mechanisms or may induce the expression of the genes involved in them. Another possibility is that pro-oxidant molecules in food increase the sensitivity and power of the detoxification pathways. This option is based on well-known DNA repair mechanisms after exposure to radiation (even from the Sun), or strong evidence of induction of antioxidant capacity after exposure to powerful pro-oxidants such as H(2)O(2). More experimental work is required to test whether some molecules in food can increase the expression of antioxidant enzymes and/or improve antioxidant mechanisms. Identifying effective molecules to achieve such antioxidant power is critical to the food and nutraceutical industries. The potential of diet-based interventions to combat oxidative stress must be viewed from a new perspective.