Antioxidant pills to take daily, how safe are they, what is the right amount to take, can you overdose by taking too many of these pills?
Top food sources and dietary selections

There are thousands of antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, chocolate, coffee, and red wine, meats, poultry, and fish.

Just about everybody has heard the word “antioxidant.” Over the past few years, articles touting the benefits of antioxidants—such as vitamins C and E—have been touted in countless magazine and newspaper articles. Yet, even with all this press, most people don’t have a good understanding of the concept of oxidation and anti-oxidation. We polled a number of patients if they really knew what the word “antioxidant” meant. Although the majority of these patients were taking antioxidants, only a few understood what they were or how they really worked. For an excellent multivitamin with lots of antioxidants. A popular antioxidant supplement is cacao which avoids the fat and sugar in chocolate. A good antioxidant is mangosteen. Another interesting antioxidant carotenoid is astaxanthin.

Herbs and plants with good antioxidants
 There are countless herbs with excellent antioxidant benefits. Here are a few:
Bioperine, piperine extract
Fenugreek herb.
Grape seed extract antioxidant benefit
 Mangosteen is an herb that has xanthones.
For more resveratrol supplement research information.
Turmeric extract curcumin
See also acai berry information.

Top antioxidant nutrients
 For more alpha lipoic acid information.
 Carnosine benefit

Top antioxidant vitamins
 Vitamin C, what dosage is enough?
Vitamin E, what is the right dose and how often should you take a vitamin E supplement?

Top antioxidants foods
Here are some foods that have high antioxidant value.  Blueberry, cranberry, artichoke hearts, blackberry, prune, raspberry, acai berry, pomegranate, and maqui berry. Some studies in rodents show their life span increases when berries are added to their diet.
What Can antioxidants do for You?
As a rule, you are not likely to notice any immediate cognitive benefits from taking the antioxidants discussed in this chapter. Therefore, do not expect any dramatic changes in mood, energy, alertness, and memory. Antioxidants can be compared to health insurance. You pay your monthly fee but don’t often get the benefits until years later when you need a hospital bill paid. Antioxidants serve to protect your brain cells, proteins, and DNA from the gradual damage that occurs with the aging process. However, chapter 12 discusses other nutrients that have antioxidant benefits, such as CoQ10 and lipoic acid, which are mind energizers—they have immediate cognitive effects.

What Conditions Do Antioxidants Benefit?
It’s quite likely that, over the long run, proper supplementation could slow the progression of heart disease, cancer, age related cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and perhaps other conditions such as asthma, though there is no definite proof yet.

Brain Cells Can Get Oxidized
The cell membrane of neurons is made mostly of phospholipids, which contain fatty acids. Nerve fibers that travel from the brain to the spinal cord, and from the spinal cord to the rest of the body, are also insulated with a white-colored fatty substance called myelin. With time, these fats can become oxidized, interfering with proper nerve activity. The process of fats becoming oxidized is called lipid peroxidation. The oxidation of fats contributes to brain aging and can accelerate degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. You may recall from chapter 7 that the brain contains a great deal of polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as DHA and arachidonic acid, which are particularly susceptible to oxidation. As we age, many of these fatty acids in the brain become damaged due to oxidation and they lose some of their double bonds, thus becoming more saturated. Neurons in the brain become less efficient the more the fatty acids become saturated. Antioxidants can thus play a protective role in keeping the fatty acids in the brain healthy. After all, about 60 percent of the brain is made of fat.

Antioxidants and Memory
Although many antioxidant pills do not immediately influence cognition and memory, they very well could have a positive effect in the long run. Researchers at the University of Bern, in Switzerland, evaluated a total of three hundred male and one hundred thirty female volunteers, aged sixty-five to ninety-four, over twenty-two years. In 1971, they measured blood levels of three antioxidants: vitamin E, vitamin C, and beta-carotene. They also performed extensive memory testing. They found that higher levels of antioxidants, particularly vitamin C and beta-carotene, were associated with better performance in memory testing. The researchers state, "These results indicate the important role played by antioxidants in brain aging and may have implications for prevention of progressive cognitive impairments."

The researchers only tested blood levels of three antioxidants. It is quite likely that a number of other antioxidants play a role in helping us preserve memory and mental capacities in our later years. For instance, an eight-month study in rats showed administration of extracts from strawberries and spinach, either alone or with vitamin E, was able to slow damage to brain cells due to the aging process.

Antioxidants and exercise
Exercise and mononuclear cell DNA damage: the effects of antioxidant supplementation.
 Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2005. School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster Jordanstown, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, UK.
The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of antioxidant supplementation on DNA damage following exercise. Fourteen subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups and required to ingest either antioxidants (400 mg alpha-lipoic acid, 200 mg co-enzyme Q10, 12 mg manganese, 600 mg vitamin C, 800 mg N-acetyl cysteine, 400 microg selenium, and 400 IU alpha-tocopherol per day) or placebos for 7 d. Exercise increased DNA damage, PS, FRAP, and LDH, but not selectively between groups. LDH and PS concentration decreased 1 h post-exercise, while LH concentration decreased 1 h post-exercise in the antioxidant group only. The antioxidant group had a higher concentration of LH, perhaps due to a selective difference between groups post-exercise. The main findings of this investigation demonstrate that exhaustive aerobic exercise induces DNA damage, while antioxidant supplementation does not protect against damage.

Types of antioxidants:
Carotenoids
   Beta-carotene: Orange/yellow fruits and vegetables (carrots, cantaloupe); dark leafy greens (spinach, kale)
   Lycopene: Red-fleshed fruits and vegetables (watermelon, tomato)
   Lutein and Zeaxanthin: Romaine lettuce, dark leafy greens, citrus fruits, corn, egg yolks
Flavonoids
   Anthocyanidins: Berries, grapes, wine
   Catechins: Tea, cocoa
   Quercetin: Apples, tea, capers, citrus fruits
Flavonols: Tea, cocoa, coffee, berries, grapes, apples, wine
Flavonones: Citrus fruits
Isoflavones and Phytoestrogens (daidzein, equol, enterolactone, genistein): Soybeans, whole wheat, flaxseed

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

questions
I have read that milk can almost completely inhibit the uptake of the various antioxidants in cocoa and also tea. Apparently the milk proteins combine with the antioxidants to prevent their absorption. I’m sure the majority of people tend to drink cocoa made with the addition of milk, and certainly in the UK tea is also drunk mainly with milk. I wonder about your opinion on this and whether it might be important to stress that milk should be avoided in order to enhance absorption. I note (in an e-mail to you) that the person grinding his own raw cocoa beans adds them to milk powder. He could be losing a lot of the antioxidant benefit that way. As a wider issue, what about the absorption of antioxidants in fruit and vegetables when eaten with yogurts, creamy sauces or cheeses? It would be interesting to investigate this and worrying if such combinations made the food less healthful.
   Yes, there was one study that indicated consuming tea with milk reduced the benefits from some of the antioxidants in the tea. Perhaps this also is relevant to other dairy products but I have not seen such data. It may be a good idea to drink herbal teas without milk until further research confirms or negates the early reports.  Or, another approach, one may call it Epicurean, is to just enjoy the tea with the milk and get antioxidants at a different time of day rather than relying on the tea.

I am a postdoc in UNC school of pharmacy and want to make out the maximum safe dose for the following antioxidant which will be used in our new formulation study of a new drug. Would you please to let me know if you know the data or show me how to find them out in fda website? Antioxidants BHA BHT Vitamin E
etinyl palmitate Ascorbyl palmitate TPGS.
    It is not possible to know the ideal and safe dosages until several decades of studies are done with these antioxidants separately and together. Thus far this type of research is not available.

Does the herb yohimbe bark have any antioxidant activity?
    We are not sure but probably not much.