Antioxidant supplements and gastrointestinal diseases: a critical appraisal

ABSTRACT

The gastrointestinal tract digests and absorbs dietary nutrients, protects the body against physical and chemical damage from contents in its lumen, provides immunity against external antigens, and keeps an optimum environment for the gut microbiota. These functions cannot be performed normally in several diseases of which the following are discussed here irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and ulcer-ative colitis