Antioxidant of the future

Working on the frontiers of nutrition, an international scientific team bas developed a new class of antioxidant--molecules that counteract the damaging effects of oxygen in the body, which might help prevent cancer, heart disease and even signs of premature aging.

A group of chemists at Vanderbilt University in Nashville developed a host of new molecular compounds by starting with a-tocepherol (the most active form of vitamin E) and removing carbon atoms and adding nitrogen atoms. The scientists then sent the various forms of the new molecules--called pyridinols--to the University of Bologna in Italy for antioxidant testing.

Sources tell us those early results have just come back. And they're bound to drop jaws.

The best pyridinols created by the Vanderbilt chemists are as much as 100 rimes more effective than vitamin E--the current antioxidant standard.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the National Science Foundation, Vanderbilt University, the University of Bologna and the Italian Ministry of Research all cooperated in this groundbreaking project.

Researchers will next try to make water-soluble pyridinols--further distinguishing them free oil-soluble vitamin E. Water-soluble antioxidants could perform a role similar to that of vitamin C: trapping and destroying water-soluble free radicals. It may take years before supplemental pyridinols are available, but the implications for the future of nutrition are enormous.

{1/3 decrease in the risk of developing rectal cancer among people who have the highest intakes of vegetables, fruits and fiber.

SOURCE: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition}

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