Chapter 6 Nutraceuticals and oxidative stress

Several studies have found a link between oxidative stress and a variety of noncommunicable diseases including diabetes, obesity, aging, Down syndrome, cancers, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases. All these pathologies are aided by oxidative stress, which is caused by the excessive production of free radicals or insufficient elimination of free radicals. To avoid, reduce, or eliminate this imbalance favoring prooxidants in organs and cells, one of the healthier and promising approaches is to use antioxidant compounds like nutraceuticals, which can scavenge the excessive free radicals and restore the balance. Nutraceuticals are dietary compounds that include dietary fibers, prebiotics, probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, and spices. Some of them have antioxidant activity, which can react with the free electron available in the outer layer of free radicals to make the unstable compounds more stable while avoiding free radicals’ proliferation and the induced damage to the different metabolisms that occur in the human body because of oxidative stress. Thus, each nutraceutical class performs specific functions in managing the onset of oxidative stress. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to sort out the mechanisms by which different classes of nutraceuticals can have beneficial effects on oxidative stress and related pathologies via their biological properties. However, it also observes that the efficacy of nutraceutical compounds can only be guaranteed if they can maintain their properties during production, preservation, consumption, digestion, and use by the various targeted active sites. Thus, it shows that the concepts of bioavailability and bio-accessibility are key factors for the effectiveness of nutraceuticals on oxidative stress when consumed by humans.