Too Much About Antioxidants; Just Enough About Blueberries

The next time some less-than-imaginative colleague reminds you that Youth Is Wasted on the Young, tell them not to worry– age is simply the result of oxidative stress, otherwise knows as the imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants, in favor of the former, resulting in oxidative damage to molecules such as DNA, lipids and proteins. Then tell them that after life-long free-radical insult on an organ which already shows increased vulnerability to OS, functional deficits are observed. The good news is, that person will never again tell you that Youth Is Wasted on the Young. The other good news is that U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council will tell you that one of the best ways load up on antioxidants is to eat blueberries–at least one half-cup a day.  Well-publicized evidence that blueberries may be the best natural source of antioxidants has, apparently, made an impression on a great many people who would like to put the brakes on their own oxidative stress. The Washington Post reports that in the last three years, the quantity of blueberries sold in the U.S. has jumped from 105 million pounds to 166 million pounds. Now how about a nice piece of antioxidant pie?