Oxidative Stress: The Quiet Burn of Overdoing

Michelle Donath
Jun 9
5 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

Oxidation, repair, and the space between burnout and balance.

You don’t wake up in the morning thinking about oxidative stress. But you probably wake up feeling it.

It’s the ache that wasn’t there yesterday. The way your skin seems to have lost its glow. The brain that buffers mid-thought. The inflammation that settles in for longer than it used to.

It’s not a diagnosis. It’s a process. And it starts with something you do every second of your life. Make energy.

What Is Oxidation?

Oxidation is one of the most basic, essential reactions in your body. Every time you breathe, move, think, or digest, your mitochondria are converting nutrients and oxygen into ATP, your body’s cellular energy.

But like any fire, the process throws off sparks.

Those sparks are called reactive oxygen species (ROS), unstable molecules missing an electron. And like anything unstable, they’re reactive.

They steal electrons from cell membranes, proteins, enzymes, or DNA, creating damage in the process.

This isn’t a mistake. It’s not dysfunction. It’s normal. Your body makes ROS as a byproduct of being alive.

The issue is what happens when the sparks keep flying, and the crew that’s meant to clean them up can’t keep up.

What Is Oxidative Stress?

To understand oxidative stress, picture an apple.

You slice it open and leave it out on the counter. Within minutes, it starts to brown.

That browning? That’s oxidation in real time. The inner tissue has been exposed to oxygen. There’s no protection. No buffering system. So the molecules begin to degrade.

Your cells do the same.

They don’t turn brown. But when your body doesn’t have enough protection, whether from poor diet, excess stress, low antioxidant levels, or high toxic load, damage accumulates.

That’s oxidative stress. Not a disease itself. Just a gradual, internal fraying that builds when repair can’t keep pace with activity.

But here’s the thing, your body was built with a plan.

It makes its own defenders (endogenous antioxidants), and it borrows backup from the outside (exogenous antioxidants).

One is built in. The other from the outside. And both rely on what you eat.

Your Built-In System: Endogenous Antioxidants

Your body is brilliantly equipped to make its own antioxidants. It’s built into your genetic blueprint.

These internal defenders, also called endogenous antioxidants, are enzyme systems that quietly run interference every time a reactive oxygen species is produced.

But here’s the catch: making these enzymes isn’t the same as activating them. And activating them isn’t the same as keeping them functioning long-term.

They require specific cofactors, minerals like selenium, zinc, copper, manganese, and iron, and a steady supply of amino acids and B vitamins to stay online.

They also respond to your environment: sleep, movement, fasting, stress, toxins, light. And most importantly, food.

And certain compounds in food, known as epinutrients, can trigger the genetic pathways that activate these antioxidant enzymes.

This is how food becomes more than fuel, it becomes instruction. These compounds don't just mop up damage, they remind your body how to protect and repair itself.

It’s not just about genetics. It’s about signals. About rhythm. About nourishment.

So yes, your body makes antioxidants. But they don’t exist in a vacuum. They exist in context, and that context is your daily life.

Co-factors and Genes

Antioxidant	Role	Needs
SOD (Superoxide Dismutase)	Converts ROS into hydrogen peroxide	Manganese, zinc, copper
GPX (Glutathione Peroxidase)	Neutralises peroxide	Selenium, glutathione
Catalase	Clears peroxide fast	Iron
Glutathione	Master regulator of redox balance	Glycine, cysteine, B6, B12, folate

Epinutrients

This is where food plays a key role, not just to supply antioxidants, but to signal your body to make more of its own.

You’ve probably heard of antioxidants like vitamin C and E. But food offers something even more powerful: epinutrients, compounds that activate your body’s antioxidant genes.

These don’t mop up damage directly. These are the compounds that tell your genes to turn on the clean-up crew.

Epinutrients: Oxidative Stress

Compound	Found In	What It Does
Sulforaphane	Broccoli sprouts	Activates Nrf2, boosts detox + antioxidant genes
Curcumin	Turmeric	Modulates inflammation, supports cell resilience
EGCG	Green tea	Enhances mitochondrial protection
Quercetin	Onions, apples, capers	Calms immune overactivity, stabilises cells
Anthocyanins	Berries, red cabbage	Protect DNA and brain cells from ROS

These nutrients act like software updates. They remind your body how to recover, and make the tools it needs to do it.

Sulforaphane: The Sprout With a Signal

Of all the food-based activators, sulforaphane stands out.

It’s not technically “in” the plant. It’s created when raw broccoli or broccoli sprouts are chopped, chewed, or crushed, activating an enzyme that converts glucoraphanin into sulforaphane.

Once in your system, sulforaphane flips the Nrf2 switch. The master regulator that activates over 200 genes involved in antioxidant production, detoxification, inflammation control, and cell repair. Including the genes involed in oxidation.

It doesn’t do the work for your body. It reminds your body how to do the work.

That’s what makes it an epinutrient, not just a nutrient, but a genetic nudge. A way to say: “You still remember what to do".

External Antioxidants: The Nutrients That Do the Job

Not every antioxidant needs to flip a gene switch. Some get to work the moment they arrive.

These are your exogenous antioxidants, or external nutrients your body can’t make on its own, but relies on daily.

They move through blood, fat, and tissues, donating electrons where needed, calming the chaos, and restoring balance one molecule at a time.

They don’t signal. They neutralise.

Nutrient	Found In	Where It Works
Vitamin C	Citrus, kiwi, capsicum, broccoli	Water-based areas: blood, lymph, skin, connective tissue
Vitamin E	Almonds, sunflower seeds, olive oil	Fat-based areas: cell membranes, brain, skin, hormone glands
Beta-carotene	Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato	Skin, eyes, immune tissue
Lutein + Zeaxanthin	Egg yolk, spinach, corn	Eyes, brain, macula protection
CoQ10	Sardines, organ meats, supplements	Mitochondria, protects during energy production

These antioxidants aren’t optional. Your body uses them constantly, and depletes them quickly under stress, illness, or pollution exposure. They're also needed for many other jobs in the body, no just antioxidants.

And they’re team players. Vitamin C helps regenerate vitamin E. CoQ10 supports membranes while you’re making energy. Carotenoids stack up in your skin, helping protect you from UV damage and environmental stressors.

You don’t need megadoses. You need regular access. Real food. Real colour. A wide spectrum of protective compounds that, quietly, daily, help your body keep pace with life.