Oxidation is a word that gets tossed around a LOT in discussions of nutrition and metabolism. And for good reason -- it is integral to how our bodies "burn" fuels for energy and how that energy is harnessed to drive all manner of chemical reactions. I spent my graduate years studying oxidation -- in metals -- but in many ways the principles are the same. A little while ago I came across the following paper: The Pecking Order of Free Radicals and AntiOxidants: Lipid Peroxidation, α-Tocopherol and Ascorbate. In it we find the following chart:
