Antioxidants for MECFS, Fibromyalgia, and Long COVID
What are Antioxidants?
Antioxidants are like the defenders of our body, fighting off invaders known as free radicals. But wait, what are free radicals? Imagine them as troublemakers that can damage our cells, tissues, and DNA. These troublemakers are formed naturally in our bodies and can come from external sources like pollution, UV rays, and unhealthy foods.
So, antioxidants become heroes to neutralize these troublemakers, preventing them from causing chaos. They're like the shield that keeps our cells safe and healthy.
How Do Antioxidants Work?
Picture this: your body is like a bustling city, and free radicals are the troublemakers trying to create chaos. Antioxidants act as the police force, patrolling the city to maintain peace.
When free radicals try to cause trouble, antioxidants neutralize them by donating an electron. This selfless act stabilizes the free radical, preventing it from causing harm to our cells. It's like a game of catch, where antioxidants throw an electron to the free radical, stopping its destructive chain reaction.
In simpler terms, antioxidants keep our body's balance in check, ensuring that our cells stay healthy and function properly.
What Does the Research Say?
With chronic conditions like MECFS, fibromyalgia, and long COVID antioxidant treatment is suggested to offset symptoms of these conditions. The prolonged state of inflammation and oxidative stress from free radicals can take a toll on the body, making exploring ways to support recovery essential.
Several antioxidants studied in post-viral conditions are NADH, CoQ10, acetyl-L-carnitine, vitamin C, selenium, and alpha-lipoic acid. Up to 85% percent of patients use supplements, many of them antioxidants. These agents may help by:
Reducing Inflammation: Post-viral conditions often involve chronic inflammation, and antioxidants are renowned for their anti-inflammatory properties.
Immune Helper: Post-viral conditions may compromise the immune system, leaving individuals susceptible to recurrent infections. Antioxidants are vital for immune support.
Cellular Repair: Antioxidants contribute to cellular repair by neutralizing free radicals, which can be elevated in cases of chronic illness. This cellular repair mechanism is also crucial for recovering from damage caused by the initial viral infection or viral reactivation.
Antioxidants in Food
Remember to always choose food over supplements! Antioxidant-rich foods are an essential component of an anti-inflammatory diet. Include a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables. Use spices and herbs heavily in your cooking. Snack on various nuts and seeds. Sip varieties of tea.
Antioxidant Supplements
For those with MECFS, fibromyalgia, and long COVID, supplementing with antioxidants is common and may relieve symptoms. However, the research regarding them is not compelling!
How can this be? There are many reasons. Antioxidant supplements have many caveats. Before you buy, consider these:
1.Chemical form
It might seem like you need a degree in chemistry to understand which antioxidant to take. If taking the antioxidant CoQ10 you may choose from the ubiquinol or the ubiquinone form. Even the humble vitamin C can be found in multiple chemical forms like ascorbate or ascorbyl. One of these is better than the other. Generally, one form will also be much cheaper than the other. That can be a hint. In the world of supplements, you get what you pay for.
2. Dose
Only taking 1 or 2 per day? The dose may be far too low to have any effect. I’m a firm believer that supplements should be respected the same as medications. They can have potent effects when taken at high doses and this should be done with care and guidance. Getting a therapeutic dose—meaning a dose that will have the desired outcome of symptom relief—a high dose is often the only way. If you see a study or news release that antioxidant XYZ helped reduce pain and fatigue, evaluate the dose of the product used in the trial. You may be surprised to find it is much higher than what the bottle suggests.
3. Bioavailability
How can you be sure that that expensive supplement is getting into the body and doing what it's advertised to do? This is the idea of bioavailability—how readily the supplement can pass through the digestive tract and enter the blood. Generally, antioxidants have very poor bioavailability and are broken down and excreted by our digestive processes. Getting the right form is essential to ensure high bioavailability.
4. Form
Is it a tablet or a capsule? Is it a liquid? The formulation of the antioxidant product is of great importance. In general, tablets are the worst form. They are only broken down if there is adequate stomach acid. They are also combined with problematic fillers to ensure their solid form. Capsules are often encased in thin gelatin which allows them to dissolve quickly and easily. Liquids are the best form of antioxidants. They are liposomal meaning encased in a fat layer wrapping which helps the contents, the antioxidant, easily cross through our cells and into the bloodstream. The next phase of supplement development is nanoparticles—ultrafine particles.
Are you taking an antioxidant to treat brain fog and neuroinflammation? If it isn’t liposomal, there is zero chance that the product is crossing through the blood-brain barrier to reduce brain fog. Only liposomal formulations have any chance of reaching the brain.
Save your money and choose your products wisely. Most supplements are ineffective, poorly made, and of questionable quality. I thoroughly vet all supplements before writing about them, before taking them myself, and before recommending them to you.
References
Weigel B, Eaton-Fitch N, Passmore R, Cabanas H, Staines D, Marshall-Gradisnik S. A preliminary investigation of nutritional intake and supplement use in Australians with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and the implications on health-related quality of life. Food Nutr Res. 2021;65:10.29219/fnr.v65.5730. Published 2021 Jun 7. doi:10.29219/fnr.v65.5730
Maksoud R, Balinas C, Holden S, Cabanas H, Staines D, Marshall-Gradisnik S. A systematic review of nutraceutical interventions for mitochondrial dysfunctions in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. J Transl Med. 2021;19(1):81. Published 2021 Feb 17. doi:10.1186/s12967-021-02742-4
Campagnolo N, Johnston S, Collatz A, Staines D, Marshall-Gradisnik S. Dietary and nutrition interventions for the therapeutic treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a systematic review. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2017;30(3):247-259. doi:10.1111/jhn.12435 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5434800/#jhn12435-bib-0012
Akanchise T, Angelova A. Potential of Nano-Antioxidants and Nanomedicine for Recovery from Neurological Disorders Linked to Long COVID Syndrome. Antioxidants (Basel). 2023;12(2):393. Published 2023 Feb 6. doi:10.3390/antiox12020393 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9952277/
