Insight into what we’re eating
For years, Professor Christine Winterbourn has been studying the effects of free radicals and antioxidants on the body.
Next week, Nelsonians will be able to hear about her work firsthand when she presents the 2012 Rutherford Lecture at the Suter Theatre, one of six venues around New Zealand at which she will speak.
The 69-year-old biochemist was this year made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and last year received the Rutherford Medal, New Zealand’s top science and technology honour. She is the first woman to have received the award in its 20-year history.
Prof Winterbourn, director of the Free Radical Research Group in the Pathology Department at the University of Otago, says the antioxidant content of food is proving to be only part of the equation.
‘‘Our antioxidant defences are in part derived from diet, but most important are cellular enzymes that promote the breakdown of free radicals or repair the damage that they cause.’’
The food we eat affects the body’s antioxidant system, she says.
‘‘When you eat certain foods, like red wine, chocolate or broccoli, there are compounds in these foods that trigger our own cells to mount an antioxidant defence by producing antioxidant enzymes.’’
This means that the rush to promote foods with high antioxidant content is telling only part of the story, she says.
Prof Winterbourn’s work has centred on understanding the chemistry of the body’s antioxidant systems. ‘‘You can put things in a test tube and understand the chemical reaction, but in the cell there are hundreds of reactions happening at the same time.’’
The lectures are free and open to the public. More information can be found at royalsociety. org.nz.