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    Pocket Antioxidants
    Pocket Antioxidants
    Pocket Antioxidants
    Ebook136 pages1 hour

    Pocket Antioxidants

    By Amitava Dasgupta

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    We've all heard the word "antioxidants" and we all have some vague idea of what they are and what they do. Now, with Pocket Antioxidants, medical-level knowledge of this topic is available to a general audience. Prestigious researcher Dr. Amitava Dasgupta takes the latest antioxidant research from peer-reviewed medical journals and makes it accessible to anyone in this handy little book.
    Dasgupta explains what oxidative stress really means, the danger of "free radicals," and the benefits of antioxidants. He explains that the best way to combat free radicals is by eating antioxidant-rich foods and supplements. Readers will learn which foods are highest in which antioxidants. Readers also learn that antioxidants sometimes come from surprising sources, such as coffee or alcohol.
    With the tips in this book, readers can avoid the risks of following the false information and pseudoscience found on various web sites, and become empowered to pick their favorite fruits, vegetables, and herbal supplements - with the goal of living a healthier life!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTurner Publishing Company
    Release dateMar 12, 2013
    ISBN9780897936361
    Pocket Antioxidants
    Author

    Amitava Dasgupta

    Amitava Dasgupta received his Ph. D in chemistry from Stanford University and completed his fellowship training in Clinical Chemistry from the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine at Seattle. He is board certified in both Toxicology and Clinical Chemistry by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry. Currently, he is a tenured Full Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center and Director of Clinical Laboratories at the University of Kansas Hospital. Prior to this appointment he was a tenured Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Texas McGovern medical School from February 1998 to April 2022. He has 252 papers to his credit. He is in the editorial board of four journals including Therapeutic Drug Monitoring, Clinica Chimica Acta, Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis.

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    Reviews for Pocket Antioxidants

    4/5

    32 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This book provides a great deal of useful information within its pocket size. It not only lists what foods contain which antioxidants, but explains why these nutrients are important and the environmental toxins we encounter in the modern world that can be counteracted by ingesting antioxidants. One way I wish the book could be improved is to include index entries for each of the foods that are mentioned in the text. As I subscribe to a "community-supported agriculture" farm share, I often bring home new types of vegetables and would like to be able to look up in what way each veggie is beneficial to my health.
    • 2/5
      I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. I think the author attempted to make this readable for a general audience, but it was still too technical for me - lots of chemical terms and lots of lists. The basic point of the book is to eat lots of fruits and vegetables - big surprise. Someone who is looking for specific info might find it useful.
    • 5/5
      Don't let the pocket size fool you, this small treasure is packed with valuable, scientifically based, information that makes clear sense out of the antioxidant craze! Free radicals, Oxidative Stress and how they contribute to disease, it's all covered and explained in easy to assimilate language. Tables make for quick and easy reference. If your goal is to improve your diet and health, I think you'll find this to be the reference you reach for again and again.
    • 4/5
      This book was a nice summary of current information on antioxidants and a handy guide to the currently popular "buzz words" and foods. It was well-written and seemed medically appropriate, making no outrageous claims. It also explains the basics about antioxidants nicely.
    • 4/5
      This book is a wonderful reference book. This little book has loads of helpful information on which foods has these important antioxidants and the inherent values each contains. I would recommend this pocket guide to anyone interested in increasing their health.
    • 4/5
      This book is a great general reference for understanding antioxidants and how to add them to your diet. Although referencing the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) is an important concept for chemists, I don't think it really is suited for the laymen. In addition, I don't know if I truly agree that we can acquire all the antioxidants that we require through food.However, "Pocket Antioxidants” is full of vast information that is easy to read and understand. I really didn't expect to gain so much knowledge from such a small book.
    • 5/5
      Antioxidants are health and healing powerhouses. Most of us have heard of antioxidants and know that we need to include sufficient amounts of them in our diets. But which ones? How much do you need? Can you “overdose”? Pocket Antioxidants answers all of your questions about antioxidants and offers helpful information on which antioxidants --- and how much --- may be right for each person. With chapters explaining what oxidative stress is and describing the role of antioxidants in removing free radicals from the body, as well as lists of antioxidants, their sources, and their uses, Pocket Antioxidants is an indispensible guide to including antioxidants in your diet and nutrition plan. It covers the antioxidants that everyone is familiar with --- vitamin C, vitamin E, the antioxidants in red wine, tea, and coffee --- and many antioxidants that are less well known --- astragalus, milk thistle, cat’s claw --- and discusses the antioxidant content of foods that might never be suspected of harbouring antioxidants. The book also provides recommendations on supplementation and information on potential drug interactions.Pocket Antioxidants is an excellent guide for both the person who is new to antioxidants and for the person who needs a quick reference to refresh their memory.
    • 3/5
      Pocket Antioxidants is a practical, no-nonsense primer that is scientific and conservative in approach---all the more refreshing given the sea of hype and hyperbole that consumers are typically faced with when reading about nutritional health. Author Amitava Dasgupta manages in a scant 102 pages to hone in on the essentials: what antioxidants are; their types, sources and recommended dosages; and how the body uses antioxidants to ward off stressors and combat disease. As with his previous book on the pros and cons of herbal remedies, Dasgupta makes no overstated claims and is careful to provide information that is backed up by documented medical research. I really appreciate his balanced tone throughout. He’s not pushing supplements (in fact recommends against them unless your diet is really out of whack) or any dietary regimen. His sole purpose is to educate readers on the benefits of incorporating nutrient-dense, antioxidant-rich whole foods in their daily meals. This he does admirably.
    • 3/5
      This is a small pocket guide to antioxidants. It's great for anyone trying to get an overview of what exactly antioxidants are and where one can find them. The book explains why antioxidants are important for one's health and how the reader can increase his or her intake of them. It's a very basic book but I enjoyed the fact that it was straight to the point. There's only one thing I would have preferred to be different and that's the order of the tables. As it is they are ordered alphabetically, but I think it would have been much more useful to order the different food items according to their vitamin content from highest to lowest. So that you can tell with one glance which food source has the highest antioxidant levels. But overall, it's a good little book.
    • 5/5
      When I started reading Pocket Antioxidants by Amitava DasGupta, PhD, I expected to find a listing of Dos & Don'ts on what to eat and how to change my lifestyle to incorporate more antioxidants in my daily life. I got that, but what I also got was an informative and educational look at the Whys and Whats as well.For such a small book, this volume is an entire course on exactly why we should focus on the food we eat with antioxidants in mind and a good readable definition of what antioxidants are and what harm an overabundance of free radicals can do to our bodies. A complex subject rendered in an instructive and easy to understand format, this book will become a reference in my library and will get re-read from time to time to remind me just why I should eat my fruits and vegetables!
    • 4/5
      Expertly written, this is a concise account on the subject of anti-oxidants in our diet. It gives very valuable advice in easily understood form but obviously backed by solid research. Very helpful to have it on hand to consult when in doubt on the subject and to refresh one's memory as to what things are good for you. The pocket-size format is very handy.
    • 4/5
      Pocket Antioxidants is a pocket size book but has a good amount of information. Antioxidants is a current buzz word in the health, fitness and diet trend. Who wants to read a thich scientific book when you can get all the information you need in this great little book. I like that this book is clear and consise. it gives you lists and graphs so you know what foods are the best. It's a quick read but it's small enough to put in your bag or pocket so you could actually have it with you at your meal or in your favorite restaurant.
    • 4/5
      After I received this book, Pocket Antioxidants, I took a quick look at it and figured it would be ultra boring. In the book, I saw large, chemical-sounding words and many graphs. I wondered why I'd even ordered it. Well, I'm a "foodie". That's why. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised when I actually took time to read it. It's very easy to understand. As a matter of fact, the author say *not* to dwell on the big words, but to listen to the underlying idea of what he's saying. The idea is that a variety of fruits and vegetables daily is what is needed to supply us with our necessary antioxidants.The book opens with an explanation of what antioxidants are. I had been previously just impressed by that word since I heard it so much in food advertising! Now, at least, I know what it means.This is a quick read, a nice little reference book, and one that impressed me with some of its facts. For example, I learned that a strawberry daquiri has more antioxidants than a plain daquiri. That's good to know! I also learned that some foods are greater in antioxidants after being cooked, while the opposite is true of other foods. In addition, I was given small charts (nothing to fear, really) that show which foods, in their own categories, outperform others within the same categories in relation to their antioxidant content.This book has a small, but rather nice, list of resources at the end. I'll need to soon check those out. The very best thing about this book, though, is that it says that chocolate and coffee are good for me (in moderation, of course!).
    • 4/5
      Sometimes less is “just right”. Pocket Antioxidants by Amitava Dasgupta PhD is an example of “just enough information” in the “right doses” is a boon. Dasgupta tries to simplify the chemistry of oxidative stress and its clinical manifestations for the layman. This is to prepare the reader for “Why I need to read this book!”. Unfortunately there a few times when I felt like my puppy when he does not understand a command. Such as the table of household chemicals that induce oxidative stress. Seriously do we worry about transdermal absorption of lye? But I digress. In toto this is a good handbook of many foods and micronutrients one can introduce into their diet to reduce the very real damages of free radicals and oxidative stress. In short - a nicely written pocket handbook of antioxidants. I'll give it 3 stars - plus.

    Book preview

    Pocket Antioxidants - Amitava Dasgupta

    1

    Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants: An Overview

    Oxygen is essential for life, but as the body processes oxygen, harmful free radicals are generated as a side effect. Fortunately, substances known as antioxidants can neutralize these free radicals. For healthy living, a delicate balance must be maintained between oxidative stress—the damage caused by free radicals—and the body’s antioxidant defense. If the body’s antioxidant defense is not working well, free radicals can produce too much oxidative stress and cause disease.

    Oxidation is what we call a chemical reaction in which an oxygen molecule is added to a chemical compound. The most common example of oxidation is the rusting of iron. Another example occurs after cutting an apple and allowing it to sit at room temperature; a brown color will develop due to oxidation. When a compound is oxidized, it exists in what is called an oxidized state. The opposite chemical reaction, the removal of an oxygen molecule from a chemical compound, is called reduction. When a compound is reduced, it exists in what is called redox state. In general, the cells of our body prefer to exist in a redox state—without any added oxygen.

    What Are Free Radicals?

    To explain what a free radical is, we have to revisit Chemistry 101. Everything is made up of atoms, which contain smaller parts called protons, neutrons, and electrons. Atoms combine to form molecules, and molecules combine to form chemical compounds. One of the main things that determines how an atom will combine or bond with other atoms to form chemical compounds is the number of electrons it contains. If a substance has unpaired electrons, it is unstable or reactive, meaning it is eager to steal electrons from another substance so it can become more stable.

    A free radical is a highly reactive chemical possessing one or more unpaired electrons. Sometimes a free radical exists for only a fraction of a second or a few seconds before it begins snatching electrons from nearby molecules, thereby changing its chemical structure. It is free because it floats around until it stabilizes, and radical in the sense that it can steal electrons from a wide variety of molecules.

    Above, we defined oxidation as a chemical reaction in which an oxygen molecule is added to a chemical compound. To use the more technical language of chemistry, oxidation is the transfer of one or more electrons from one atom to another. This is important to know, because that’s what free radicals do: they steal electrons, adding to their own electron count. That means they’re involved in the process of oxidation.

    Why is this a problem? A free radical will readily react with any molecule in its vicinity, thus damaging that molecule. Let’s say the molecule whose electron was stolen by a free radical is part of a bodily tissue. Now that it’s missing an electron it has itself become a free radical, on the hunt for electrons to steal. You can see how this ongoing theft of electrons between substances can snowball into a process that wreaks havoc on bodily tissues, leading to disease and premature aging. This harmful state of affairs is called oxidative stress.

    Here is a list of some of the substances that are vulnerable to damage by free radicals:

    amino acids, the building blocks of all proteins

    carbohydrates, which are utilized by the body for energy

    lipids (fats), including lipids found in cell membranes

    nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), which are present in every cell (except red blood cells) and are responsible for passing on genetic

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