Podcast 087: Antioxidants

Martin and Scott continue their discussion about the Hunza people in the Himalayan Mountains.  Pollution has arrived there, along with Western food, and the people are no longer living as long.

One thing about food that grows in difficult places, is that it’s really intense.  That’s why Exsula Superfoods uses bee pollen grown in the Yukon – it has more powerful antioxidant properties. Martin paints very realistic pictures with his words to describe this phenomena.

Free radicals are undesirable products of your body’s metabolic processes, caused by poor or insufficient nutrition, and from exposure to environmental pollutants. Every body has to contend with free radicals: many are unknowingly extinguished. To control larger amounts and to limit oxidative damage, your body needs help. Nature and science have given us protection from free radicals… antioxidants.

Podcast 087: Antioxidants

This is the Life Enthusiasts co-op podcast Restoring Vitality to You and to the Planet. Let’s join our host Scott Paton and Martin Pytela now.

Scott: Welcome back everybody you’re listening to the life enthusiast co-op podcast restoring vitality to you and to the planet. I’m your co-host Scott Paton along with Martin Pytela and last time you joined us we were talking about antioxidants and longevity and a wonderful place where people live to 120 to 130 in the Himalayan mountains in a place called the Hunza valley and Martin we had a lot of people interested in what we were talking about so I thought we would talk a bit more about the Hunza valley before we continued on talking about antioxidants.

Martin: Certainly, well so what do need to tell people?

Scott: First thing we need to tell people is that it is absolutely gorgeous, I did a little Google on the internet and took a look at some of the pictures and we were oohing and aahing at the mountain peaks and the pure white snow and all those sort of good things.

Martin: Yeah it is certainly remote and it is certainly rugged I mean it’s not going to be very easy to make a living up there, I don’t know what they will grow there but there is probably a growing season of six weeks total.

Scott: It certainly didn’t look like there was much growing on the sides of the hills so high up.

Martin: Not up high no.

Scott: I suspect, too, that most people are not living quite as long now as they used to because now highways are going through and they have introduced pesticides.

Martin: Well pollution has arrived and Western easy to get food. one thing about food that grows in difficult places is that it is really intense. That’s for instance why we use Yukon bee pollen, not just any bee pollen in the Exsula Superfoods products because the plants that grow up in the Yukon have to fight against horrendous long winters. They produce the pollen that is more intense in all the antioxidants and protective ingredients then something from the lowlands where life is kind of easy.

Scott: Interesting comment and I think it’s something that we often times we forget we have challenges and it grows our strength. If you live a life that is too easy we sap our strength.

Martin: This just reminded me of something I recently came upon there was a biosphere built in Arizona which is essentially a dome with a micro environment and a climate of its own and they would plant trees in there and the trees would grow and grow and reach certain heights and then they would fall over. It would simply just crash and they found that they needed to have a breeze, wind blowing or otherwise the tree grows too tall and weak without the resistance of the branches and leaves pushing against the wind the tree would just grow too weak.

Scott: You remind me of a story about this monk who was told to plant two trees and one tree he was told to go and shake the tree everyday and the other tree he was to leave alone. He couldn’t believe he was asked to be so violent towards this tree and abuse it and after ten years the tree that had been shaken everyday was strong and had firm roots and was healthy. The other one was just kind of withering away and not doing nearly as well and of course it was that challenge and being shaken that made the one tree stronger.

Martin: Right and the same goes for the dwellers of the Hunza valley having to exist against the harsh elements but the big deal was the water because they were drinking water that was super high in the antioxidants with extra hydrogen protected by nature.

Scott: Protected by nature, so important.

Martin: So where else do we find antioxidants right?

Scott: Well you said last time in dark chocolate I think we should explore that because my sweet tooth certainly perked up when you mentioned that.

Martin: Okay give up your sweet tooth, it’s the bitter dark chocolate.

Scott: Oh.

Martin: The sugar well it’s not such a harmful thing as long as it is raw sugar so watch for that. The benefits don’t come from the sweetness they come from the bitterness that is why for instance our antioxidant blends like the Iridesca will have a fairly bitter taste to it if you just eat it by itself. We actually have a really interesting test for new people who come to the Exsula Superfoods production line gets to taste things to be able to identify things that are good, that they are not spoiled and we usually do the taste test more than anything else. Anyway Jevari has a standing that any novice gets to taste a pinch of Coenzyme Q10, that thing is the bitterest thing on the planet. You take a little pinch of it on the tongue and you run for water or something, it is just the most awful experience going. It completely destroys the person that takes a tiny little taste of it. On the other hand that is the taste of the antioxidant action so the more bitter the better for you probably. Interestingly people have recently started selling a coffee product which is not the coffee but the stuff that is normally thrown away. Not the coffee bean but the coffee pod that they have previously been just pulping and just throwing away, now they are harvesting it and turning it into an antioxidant supplement. Then of course this goes with all the other antioxidants that come with all the other tropical fruits, goii and mangosteen and acai berry down in Brazil and this is the neatest thing you can buy the acai juice from fruit stands and vendors on the streets of Brazil. Those would be the nice days, if only we could be in the streets of Brazil drinking nice juice instead here we are having to slave in North America.

Scott: So part of what we were talking about last time was the antioxidants come from the flavanoids and I understand there is a lot more flauvanoids in things like hot chocolate as opposed to green tea or red wines or even blueberries which are one of my favorites.

Martin: That is correct, all true that is why a couple of squares of dark chocolate is a good thing. The whole eight ounce packet is a little too much.

Scott: I guess just look at the label and see if it is made with raw sugar and organic things or is it mass produced and the benefits of the dark chocolate gone.

Martin: Yes, everything in balance.

Scott: So the other thing we talked about briefly last time that I had hoped we could get into this time is CoQ10 so first of all the question would be what is it?

Martin: Well its extracted from certain plants, tobacco is one of them and I don’t know what it does do but it strengthens all the hard working oxidative tissue in the body for instance your heart or your skin or your gums where there is high exposure so all the tissues that need to be working at a great energy output or are exposed due to the elements the CoQ10 is the most effective protector.

Scott: So Martin, if we had foods that were high in CoQ10 and we cooked them or processed them would it survive that or would it still be effective?

Martin: Well as I understand it is 115 degrees Fahrenheit is the limit for their integrity anything higher than that will probably convert them into something else or make them inactive.

Scott: So we really want to take it in a raw form.

Martin: Yes best to take it in a raw form which is green vegetables, cereals, raw nuts and those types of foods.

Scott: So if I got some nuts and they are roasted?

Martin: Yep, no good, they taste good though did you notice? Roasted almonds taste so much better than the raw stuff that’s because as you roast them they release the sugars, you are converting some of the fats and more complex things into simpler sugars. Pleasing to the palate but it kills the actual benefits.

Scott: I never knew that so one of the benefits of CoQ10 is that’s one of the ways that we produce energy.

Martin: Yes let’s just imagine something like the heart pumping at a fairly high rate so the muscles are in constant use and you’re having to burn energy in them so the fire is on all the time you need to somehow protect the fire. It’s sort of like the coolant your antifreeze coolant running around your engine because the engine inside your engine the fire is hot but you need to cool it so it doesn’t melt on you. Well that’s what these things do, the antioxidants protect your tissues from being burnt by the oxidative fires and so oxidative damage and so what are these things, allergies, asthma, Alzheimer’s, sclerosis, diabetes well just about anything that has the -etes or -itis on it. Most of the cancer types of illnesses are also related to oxidative damage.

Scott: Sounds like it’s almost a miracle substance.

Martin: Well yeah it is a miracle of life you know, all of those complicated processes holding together. at the same time you are burning and preventing from burning at the same time preventing from growing too much or you’re exercising and at the same time you are resting. You know you have to inhale and exhale, to contract and expand all the time.

Scott: You are becoming quite poetic Martin or philosophical, you know I was just listening to you and I was thinking wow that is really important I mean there are active times and there are resting times and sometimes I think we get so involved in our lives and we are running around doing this and going and doing that we miss the real basic part of life, the seasons of life. It’s not always summer or winter.

Martin: Yes that’s correct, there is a time to grow fast and a time to harvest.

Scott: Often times we forget that and I believe it’s because we live in what I call a McDonalds society, it’s always on, it always has to be instantaneous you walk in and they pull the burger off the shelf and give it to you and nobody ever thinks how long has it been sitting there, well you and I think about that but most people who go to McDonalds every day don’t seem to think about it too much.

Martin: So what do we tell people about antioxidants to tie it all together, they are really important you definitely do need to have vitamin C, you definitely do need to have vitamin A and B and all of the other ones. They need to be in the right form at the right time and in the right amounts and that only means you need to take it in its natural form because there are very few people who have out smarted God.

Scott: You also said last time that was very important was that you don’t just take it once in the morning and expect it to last all day so it has to be part of your daily intake. Which means throughout the day, we don’t just eat once and never eat again it is a constant thing.

Martin: Right so we were talking quite a bit about this CoQ10, why do we even bother to have a product that costs 75 dollars a bottle. CoQ10 is important for people who have issues with their circulatory system because their heart if it’s not protected with adequate antioxidants and CoQ10 is very important in that they will just age, you will have an old heart so it is well worth using the CoQ10. I mean we put CoQ10 in all of our superfoods but it is also important for people who have already gotten sick to take extra.

Scott: Yeah cause that helps to strengthen things right?

Martin: Yes it helps to undo and reverse the oxidative damage that you may have done. A little quote CoQ10 is an integral part of the immune cycle when levels of it are raised the immune system can receive more help from any supplements or even drugs. CoQ10 can naturally stimulate your immune system and results in a wider range of beneficial and protective effects. This is too non specific; supplementation reduces the frequency of angina episodes and increases the amount of physical exercise that a person can perform before developing angina pain.

Scott: So for the athletes among us if you have the CoQ10 you would probably be able to work out longer, harder and faster.

Martin: Right and for the non athlete who’s heart has practically given out with CoQ10 you can actually get back to walking, get out of the wheel chair or motorized scooter and walk up the hill again.

Scott: That is so sad when you see people struggling in their lives.

Martin: I would like to end on an optimistic note Scott, can you find something nice to say?

Scott: There is always hope and just because you’re in a bad state today wasn’t there a wise person that once said this too shall pass.

Martin: Oh my, that was a good one, you either are getting better or you are getting out of here.

Scott: I think that it is really important that people take the time to learn more about how to be healthy and how to look after their health and then start taking small actions. It’s amazing how taking that first steep and walking that block a day and then two blocks a day and then three blocks a day or finding activities that you really enjoy doing that don’t include things like sitting in front of the TV for four hours and it just makes a wonderful change in your life, your attitude changes, your relationships get better, your whole life gets better, you become more grateful and then taking time to really consider what we put in our mouths. I have a friend who was over the other day with her daughter and her daughter said yeah mom you are an unconscious eater I have watched you and you just stuff stuff in your mouth. Then at the end of the day you said you hardly ate anything but you had been eating all day. I think it’s good that she is aware of that and it is important that we be aware of what we are putting into our mouths and what we can do to make sure what we are putting in there is helping us get what we really want.

Martin: Yes, those are good thoughts, Scott.

Scott: That’s why we do these podcasts so that people can realize that there is more to it then maybe they thought.

Martin: Yes, pause and ponder, take good antioxidants in a form that allows you to use them but also take them in natural complexed forms don’t take them in a pill please.

Scott: I’m trying to think of a really good analogy for a pill that is a vitamin C versus something that would be like an organic orange that is full of good nutrition and I havn’t but when I do i’m going to share it with everyone.

Martin: Okay eat a bowl of cherries.

Scott: That’s right because life isn’t just pits.

Martin: Alright people I would like to thank you for listening today, get some antioxidants and use them wisely, because you will need them, they will make life better and help you live longer so to listen to more of our podcasts you can go to LifeEnthusiast,podomatic.com, to read more of these interesting articles go to www.Life-Enthusiast.com and if you need to talk to us call us at 1-866-543-3388.

Scott: So you have been listening to life Enthusiast co-op podcast, take your antioxidants because it will help restore vitality to you and that is going to help restore vitality to our planet, too.

Martin: Thank you for listening.

Author: Martin Pytela