Antioxidant Autobiography
One antioxidant user’s walk down memory lane
By Anthony L. Almada
Over 25 years ago, when I was just beginning to cut my teeth on “nutritional science” PBS aired a segment on a vitamin: vitamin E (as alpha-tocopherol). It was hailed as a fertility vitamin, yet to be anchored to the ubiquitous moniker it enjoys today: antioxidant. That airing proved unknowingly to be a seminal moment pour moi. Working within a health food store as a sophomoric sophomore in high school (the following year), the first vitamin books I read were painted with the salutary benefits of this lipid soluble nutrient, many of them unrecognized, denied and excoriated by the omniscient authors and editors of textbook medicine. The Shutes in Canada had amassed a trove of clinical information on the therapeutic effects of “mega-doses.” Considered demi-gods by the “granola” crowd and anathema to the “traditionalists,” their empirical “data” could never have been validated by an NIH grant back then. I sought out the biggest vitamin E capsules I could find and took them like a child with a handful of hard-earned Halloween candy.
1985-1989: My ventures into graduate school took me to the laboratories where vitamin E was discovered. My thesis research positioned alpha-tocopherol at its center and glutathione and coenzyme Q at its flanks. Such an undertaking forced me to learn how to type an α (alpha) symbol, which littered my thesis more than all the early morning bran-boysenberry muffin crumbs that fell from my mouth. I developed a relationship with antioxidants that transcended product labels, research articles and trade publications. The pseudo-intimacy associated with “taking antioxidants” was supplanted by the supplements consuming me, on a 24-hour basis.
My professor was courted and exalted by the Roche brigade and the Henkel cartel, which descended upon our lab with dollars and distractions. The Muscular Dystrophy Association paid their visits, too, along with the evanescent MLM entity, United Sciences of America. I felt as if I was in the control center of the antioxidant world, watching the info flow course from origin to destination. Unfortunately I was unable to discern where the virus entered that distorted and altered the data bytes before they entered the “mainstream,” infecting them with hyperbole and a hazardous loss of fidelity.
Book title after article lead story emerged, emblazoned with the words “Vitamin E,” “Coenzyme Q10” or “Antioxidants” and curiously bridged with “Miracle,” “Cure” or “Solution.” Numerous large scale antioxidant intervention clinical trials were underway then, their results soon to be unwrapped like a shrouded car sitting on a driveway, underneath a big red bow: would it be a lemon or a luxury sports sedan? Little did we expect a bit of both.
1989-1990: After grad school I was engaged in muscular dystrophy clinical research while under a different guise trying to sell the first company that introduced Pycnogenol® on a different botanical antioxidant: bilberry. The protective insulation of academic ivory and peer-reviewed research wore thin by the market forces of exclusivity, branding, trade secrets, IP and profitability. Despite the lack of information to validate this pine part, it achieved a buzz that was heretofore unprecedented. The power of comparison was brilliantly executed, harnessing the recognized prowess of stalwarts like vitamin C and α-tocopherol, claiming to be 20 and 50 times more potent. “How dare they compare my baby to tree excrement!” I reviled. Alas, such vituperations were ineffectual, eliciting responses and facial expressions reserved for a badge-flashing FDA agent buying a bottle of Super Antioxidant Enzymes™ at the local vitamin shop (pre-DSHEA). Despite only one English language peer-reviewed publication on its CV, in animals, mind you, the boulder had crested the hill: The first non-vitamin, non-nutrient “accessory” antioxidant to be hailed and lofted by fanfare and national marketing was born. It helped that in those halcyon days the ingredient commanded a per kilo price not too far south of $3000. It is also fitting that I ended up working for this company that gave the industry Pycnogenol.
Today: Many of those products launched with the antioxidant emblem have oxidized and undergone chain termination, their remnants occasionally being found in inconspicuous places on labels and books. Pycnogenol continues to thrive, being the subject of tens of in vitro, animal and in vivo studies. Vitamins C and E are among the top three dietary supplements consumed by almost 175 million Americans every day (although many likely take it with a breakfast that is lacking in sufficient fat, thereby reducing its absorption). Perhaps one-third of Americans has heard of the word antioxidant and incorporated it into their cocktail and dining out lexicon. But are there too many antioxidants for sale?
Consider the fiscal impetus behind the broad-scale consumer adoption of vitamins C and E and, to a far lesser but still significant extent, Pycnogenol: decades of basic and clinical research, countless media, advertising, marketing and promotional events, campaigns and placements, spokespersons, commissioned books and articles and even infomercials. Collectively, hundreds of millions of dollars. How much capital has been sown into the internecine battlefield known to many as the Great Grape Seed War aka the OPC Assay Assault, all for a market volume of $70-80 million?
However, the juice has been spilling off the battlefield (dietary supplements) into functional beverages, e.g. Langers running a clever commercial in Southern California, featuring its enriched beverages that contain...grape seed extract, among other things. Why hasn’t the antioxidant prowess of alpha lipoic acid, astaxanthin and tocotrienols, individually claimed to be superior to α-tocopherol, caught on? Is α-tocopherol willing to rescind the title and yield to the lesser δ- or γ-tocopherols, based upon some intriguing in vitro and animal studies? Who will implement the magic recipe and emerge victorious: clinical data, infused with consumer- and clinician-relevant findings, on a product enjoying sufficient proprietary mystique and insulation, built upon brand architecture, and communicated to the masses? This entity shall likely be a candidate for the next PBS special on “Antioxidants: The Next Generation.”
NW
