A combination high in antioxidant foods’ effects on blood antioxidant and oxidative stress levels in post-menopausal women

Oxidative stress brought on by free radicals can lead to an increased risk of certain diseases such as heart disease and some cancers. Oxidative stress mediated damage can be reduced by scavengers, or antioxidants that can eliminate the high reactivity of free radicals by turning them into non-radical and nontoxic metabolites. Many scientists have investigated the effects of different kinds of foods (whole, liquid, or supplement) to measure the change in oxidative damage and antioxidant capacity. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of two types of foods high in antioxidant on markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity in postmenopausal women. Healthy post-menopausal women, (N=16) were divided into four groups (i.e., fruits, soymilk, fruits and soymilk and control). Oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity were measured before and after the intervention. Oxidative stress results indicated no significant differences. Antioxidant capacity results indicated a significant main effect for Test with the mean for the pre-test (M = 0.28 units/ml, SD = 0.15) being significantly lower than the mean for the post-test (M = 0.39 units/ml, SD = 0.23). The results from this study did not support the effectiveness of fruits and soymilk on the oxidative stress levels and antioxidant capacity in postmenopausal women.