Best ingredients for antioxidant

Ascorbic acid is the reference form of vitamin C and the most common form in supplements; NIH ODS notes its bioavailability equals that of vitamin C naturally present in food.

Typical: 250–1,000 mg

Melatonin is the hormone the pineal gland releases in darkness to signal night to the body clock.

Typical: 0.5–3 mg

Coenzyme Q10 in its oxidized form, ubiquinone, is the standard, most-studied CoQ10 ingredient.

Typical: 100–300 mg

A concentrated turmeric rhizome extract standardized to 95% curcuminoids, the form used in most joint and inflammation research.

Typical: 500–1,500 mg

A leaf extract of Camellia sinensis concentrated for catechins, especially EGCG, with a small amount of naturally occurring caffeine.

Typical: 300–500 mg

An extract of black elderberry fruit standardized to anthocyanins, the dark purple pigments, and one of the most popular immune-season botanicals.

Typical: 300–1,200 mg

The succinate ester of natural (RRR or d-) alpha-tocopherol, the one vitamin E form the body maintains in plasma and the form on which the RDA is based.

Typical: 67–268 mg

A generic greens blend is a placeholder for the dried plant powders typical of greens products: cereal grasses such as wheatgrass and barley grass, spirulina and chlorella, leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, and often fruit or vegetable extracts.

Typical: 3–10 g

The organic selenium form found in Brazil nuts, grains, and selenium yeast, in which selenium replaces sulfur in the amino acid methionine.

Typical: 50–200 mcg

Alpha-lipoic acid is a sulfur-containing compound that serves as a mitochondrial enzyme cofactor and a water- and fat-soluble antioxidant.

Typical: 300–600 mg

An acetylated form of the amino acid cysteine that is the rate-limiting precursor for glutathione, the body's principal intracellular antioxidant.

Typical: 600–1,800 mg

Lutein is a yellow xanthophyll carotenoid that concentrates in the macula of the eye, where it filters blue light and quenches reactive oxygen species.

Typical: 10–20 mg

Trans-resveratrol is a stilbene polyphenol found in grape skin, red wine, and, in far higher concentration, Japanese knotweed root, which is the usual commercial source.

Typical: 150–500 mg

A seed extract of milk thistle standardized to silymarin, a flavonolignan complex, and the best-known botanical in liver-support formulas.

Typical: 140–420 mg

Ubiquinol is the reduced, active antioxidant form of coenzyme Q10 and the form that predominates in blood.

Typical: 100–200 mg

Astaxanthin is a red keto-carotenoid produced by the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis and responsible for the pink color of salmon and krill.

Typical: 4–12 mg

Quercetin dihydrate is the standard crystalline form of the flavonol quercetin, typically extracted from Sophora japonica flower buds and supplied at 95% or higher purity.

Typical: 500–1,000 mg

Spirulina is a dried cyanobacterium (Arthrospira platensis or A.

Typical: 1–5 g

Aged garlic extract is produced by soaking sliced garlic in aqueous ethanol for many months, a process that converts harsh, unstable sulfur compounds into odorless, water-soluble ones such as S-allylcysteine.

Typical: 600–1,200 mg

Black seed oil is cold-pressed from Nigella sativa seeds, a spice with a long history of traditional use across the Middle East and South Asia.

Typical: 500–2,000 mg

The whole dried and ground rhizome of the turmeric plant, the same material used as a culinary spice.

Typical: 1,000–3,000 mg

Zeaxanthin is a xanthophyll carotenoid and structural isomer of lutein that concentrates in the central macula.

Typical: 2–4 mg

A zinc salt of citric acid with a relatively high zinc content of about 31%, giving it a compactness advantage over gluconate and picolinate.

Typical: 10–25 mg

Sodium ascorbate is the sodium salt of ascorbic acid.

Typical: 250–1,000 mg

The ground inner bark of Cinnamomum verum, the Sri Lankan species preferred for supplements because it contains far less coumarin than cassia cinnamon.

Typical: 1,000–3,000 mg

Chlorella is a single-celled freshwater green alga, most commonly Chlorella vulgaris, grown in tanks and dried into a fine green powder.

Typical: 2–5 g

Beta-carotene is an orange plant pigment that the body can split into retinol as needed, which is why it is called provitamin A.

Typical: 3–15 mg

Copper chelated with two glycine molecules, supplying about 25% elemental copper in commercial grades.

Typical: 0.5–2 mg

Grape seed extract is a concentrated polyphenol fraction prepared from the seeds left over after winemaking or juice pressing.

Typical: 150–300 mg

Lycopene is the red carotenoid that gives tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit their color.

Typical: 10–30 mg

Green coffee bean extract is made from unroasted coffee beans, which retain far more chlorogenic acid than roasted coffee.

Typical: 200–400 mg

Diindolylmethane is the acid-condensation product of indole-3-carbinol, a compound released when cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage are chewed.

Typical: 100–300 mg

Olive leaf extract is prepared from the leaves of Olea europaea and standardized to oleuropein, the bitter secoiridoid that also gives olive oil part of its character.

Typical: 500–1,000 mg

Pine bark extract is a polyphenol-rich extract of French maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) bark, standardized to oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs).

Typical: 50–200 mg

Bilberry is a European relative of the blueberry whose fruit is rich in anthocyanins, the purple pigments studied for eye and vascular support.

Typical: 80–320 mg

Chaga is not a true fruiting body but a sclerotium, a dense black mass that grows on birch trees.

Typical: 500–1,500 mg

A copper salt of gluconic acid, about 14% elemental copper, and one of the most widely used copper sources in multivitamins because it is water soluble, inexpensive, and has a long safety record.

Typical: 0.5–2 mg

A generic fruit and vegetable blend is a placeholder for the dried powders and juice concentrates of fruits, berries, and vegetables that appear in multivitamins, greens products, and whole-food-positioned formulas.

Typical: 1–5 g

An inorganic selenium salt that is about 46% selenium by weight, inexpensive, and readily converted to selenide for selenoprotein synthesis.

Typical: 50–200 mcg

A natural oil concentrate containing all four tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) in roughly the proportions found in vegetable oils, usually with gamma-tocopherol dominant.

Typical: 100–400 mg

A branded turmeric extract that recombines curcuminoids with turmeric essential oil (turmerones) rather than using a synthetic carrier.

Typical: 500–1,000 mg

Manganese chelated with glycine, about 15% elemental manganese in commercial grades, used in bone, joint, and antioxidant formulas where manganese serves as a cofactor for enzymes involved in cartilage and bone matrix formation.

Typical: 1–5 mg

An extract of pomegranate fruit or peel standardized to punicalagins or ellagic acid, the polyphenols responsible for its antioxidant reputation, used in heart, antioxidant, and exercise-recovery formulas.

Typical: 500–1,000 mg

Quercetin phytosome is quercetin complexed with sunflower lecithin phospholipids, sold as Quercefit by Indena.

Typical: 250–500 mg

R-alpha-lipoic acid is the naturally occurring enantiomer of lipoic acid, the form made in mitochondria and used as a cofactor for energy-producing enzymes.

Typical: 100–300 mg

Calcium ascorbate is the calcium salt of vitamin C, commonly supplied as the dihydrate.

Typical: 250–1,000 mg

Yerba mate is the leaf of Ilex paraguariensis, brewed as a tea across South America.

Typical: 500–1,500 mg

Moringa is the dried, milled leaf of Moringa oleifera, a fast-growing tree cultivated across South Asia and Africa.

Typical: 1–3 g

Sulforaphane is the isothiocyanate formed when glucoraphanin from broccoli seeds or sprouts meets the enzyme myrosinase.

Typical: 100–400 mg

A water-soluble manganese salt of gluconic acid with about 11–12% elemental manganese, common in multivitamins and bone formulas as an inexpensive, mild-tasting source.

Typical: 1–5 mg

Pyrroloquinoline quinone is a redox cofactor found in trace amounts in foods such as natto, kiwi, and green tea.

Typical: 10–20 mg

An extract of the deep red calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa, the plant behind hibiscus tea, used in heart-health and hydration formulas.

Typical: 500–1,000 mg

Wheatgrass is the young leaf of the wheat plant, harvested before the grain forms and dried into a bright green powder or freeze-dried juice powder.

Typical: 3–5 g

Hesperidin is the main flavanone glycoside of orange peel and is the principal component of most citrus bioflavonoid complexes.

Typical: 500 mg

Molybdenum chelated with glycine, one of the forms NIH ODS lists for supplements along with sodium molybdate and molybdenum chloride, with no comparative bioavailability data among them.

Typical: 45–150 mcg

A complex of zinc with the amino acid L-methionine, best known under the OptiZinc trade name, carrying roughly 21% elemental zinc.

Typical: 10–25 mg

Barley grass is the young leaf of Hordeum vulgare, harvested before the plant heads and dried or juiced into a green powder.

Typical: 3–5 g

Pterostilbene is a methylated analog of resveratrol found in blueberries and Pterocarpus wood.

Typical: 50–250 mg

Rutin is the glycoside of quercetin bound to the sugar rutinose, usually extracted from Sophora japonica or buckwheat.

Typical: 250–500 mg

Tocotrienols are the four unsaturated members of the vitamin E family (alpha, beta, gamma, delta), distinguished from tocopherols by a three-double-bond side chain that lets them move through membranes more freely.

Fisetin is a flavonol found in strawberries, apples, and onions and extracted commercially from smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria) or wax tree wood.

Typical: 100–500 mg

Luteolin is a flavone found in celery, parsley, peppers, and chamomile that is studied for mast-cell stabilization and neuro-inflammatory signaling.

Typical: 100 mg

Ascorbyl palmitate is an ester of ascorbic acid and palmitic acid that is soluble in fat rather than water.