What are Antioxidants?:

We Know They’re Good — But What Are They?

Antioxidants are natural compounds that help protect the body from harmful free radicals. Free radicals are atoms (or groups of atoms) that cause damage to the body’s cells if not neutralized, and can result in immune system impairment and the induction potentially serious degenerative diseases like heart disease and diabetes. Free radicals, particularly oxygen-derived free radicals, can be kept in check naturally by the action of ‘free radical scavengers’ such as antioxidants. These scavengers neutralize free radicals during the body’s normal metabolic processes, thereby helping maintain healthy blood sugar metabolism and a healthier lifestyle.

Antioxidants have been found to be particularly important in managing elevated blood sugar levels in the prediabetic and early-stage diabetic stages. Free radicals that contain the oxygen atom (oxygen-derived) act to induce oxygen stress and insulin resistance, two factors leading to the advancement of the diabetic condition. Elevated blood sugar levels increase oxidative stress, while antioxidants have been scientifically proven to lower oxidative stress thereby helping maintain a healthy blood sugar metabolism, preserve Beta-cell function, decrease insulin resistance, protect vascular cell integrity and repair nerves in diabetes damaged organs (1).

However not all antioxidants function the same, and clinical research has found that combinations of natural antioxidants functioning in a synergized manner provide the most effective result in lowering oxidative stress and insulin resistance. The Diabatrol® bioactive nutraceutical formulation provides over eighty naturally occurring whole grain antioxidants that help lower blood sugar levels, which in turn helps reduce oxidative stress and insulin resistance (see ‘How Diabatrol® Works’ for more information).

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(1) ‘Oxidative stress: A cause and therapeutic target of diabetic complications’. Journal of Diabetes Investigation, June 2010.