Antioxidants – the fight against free radicals
Here at Specialist Supplements, we have a fantastic range of antioxidant supplements – everything from Acai Berry Pure to MAXvits SuperFoods (an organic multivitamin). Check them out now!
What are antioxidants?
Oxygen is critical to all living beings. However, it can produce free radicals called oxidants. These can be found in the atmosphere, and in fact, amounts have grown dramatically over the years because of pollution. Antioxidants are compounds in foods that neutralise free radicals. Basically, antioxidants protect our bodies from harmful molecules we are exposed to every day of our lives. Oxidation in our bodies leads to chemicals called ‘free radicals’.
What are free radicals?
Our bodies are is a quite amazing machine. The processes by which we take in energy and nutrients from foods, right down to the cellular level, is intricate yet precise. And for the most part, with trillions of cells working within our bodies, things go relatively smoothly.
However, like everything else, the human body occasionally breaks down, especially as we age – cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimers and many other medical conditions begin to develop.
One biological process that is not yet wholly understood is free radicals and antioxidants. Just like a fire, your body uses oxygen as it breaks down food and creates energy for your cells. This process releases particles known as free radicals that can damage DNA and cell structure in your body.
Free radicals are, simply, unstable molecules that try to steal electrons from nearby molecules, “breaking” them in the process and causing them to seek out electrons from others. Antioxidants wipe out these free radicals (hence the “anti” in the name), scouring your cells and cleaning things up.
What are the potential benefits of antioxidants?
Antioxidants are stable with or without the extra electron, so they can stop the cycle or chain reaction caused by free agents. Antioxidants can be found in a lot of foods we eat (or should eat!). For example, Vitamin C is an antioxidant, and you can get Vitamin C from many foods like citrus, broccoli, etc. Vitamin E and phytic acid are other powerful antioxidants, found in nuts and whole grains (oatmeal, rye, barley). Vitamin A and Beta-carotene are still more antioxidants, found in carrots and other vegetables.
Antioxidants are present in foods as vitamins, minerals, carotenoids and polyphenols, among others. A lot of antioxidants are very often identified in food by their distinctive colours—e.g., the deep red of cherries and tomatoes; the orange of carrots; the yellow of corn, mangos, and saffron; and the blue-purple of blueberries, blackberries, and grapes. Antioxidants are molecules that react with free radicals in ways that neutralise them so they no longer are able to steal electrons and cause damage.
Antioxidants are intrinsically involved in the avoidance of cellular damage – the regular pathway for cancer, aging and several other diseases. Our bodies produce metabolic enzymes that are extremely effective antioxidants. However the body’s ability to produce these enzymes drops dramatically in our late twenties. One example is that the size of a 25 year old’s liver is often twice the size of a person of 70. Antioxidants are present in every cell in every organ of your body. Because of this, antioxidant foods and supplements can address almost any health issue there is.
The scientific community has begun to uncover some of the unknowns relating to this subject and the media has begun whetting our thirst for knowledge. Antioxidants are compounds that bind and inactivate free radicals. Free radicals are very often produced from many of the body’s everyday stresses such as inflammation, exercise, alcohol, ultraviolet light and fatty diets.
Antioxidants are dietary substances naturally found in food. In recent years, antioxidants have earned a reputation as the nutritional equivalent of the “fountain of youth”. Antioxidants are able to quite easily donate electrons to molecules in need of an electron, such as free radicals, before they steal one from someplace else and thereby stabilise and prevent a damaging chain reaction. The antioxidant molecules interact with the oxygen free radicals and cease the spread of cancer-causing cells with damaged DNA before other vital molecules are damaged. Antioxidants are compounds that protect cells against the damaging effects of reactive oxygen species, such as singlet oxygen, superoxide, peroxyl radicals, hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite. An imbalance between antioxidants and reactive oxygen species leads to oxidative stress, which in turn leads to cellular damage.
Antioxidants are present in many foods, most notably in berries, certain vegetables, red wine, green tea and even dark chocolate, and are also beneficial when taken as dietary food form supplements. They are also abundant in beans and grain products. Look for fruits with bright color – lutein in some of the yellow pigments found in corn; orange in cantaloupe, butternut squash and mango; red from lycopene in tomatoes and watermelon, and purple and blue in berries. So enjoy eating a variety of these products. It is possibly best to minimize the exposure of oxidative stress, such as smoking and sunburn. One of the fantastic things about antioxidants is that they are not drugs or pharmaceuticals – they are essential and naturally occurring compounds.
Antioxidants are powerful nutrients that may help the body heal. They arguablyprotect us from toxins and environmental stress that can produce free radicals in the body, causing cell damage. Antioxidants are thought to be able to neutralize free radicals , the “bad guys” responsible for visible signs of aging such as fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, hyperpigmentation and more.
Basically, antioxidants are substances that are believed to lessen the damage done to the body by free radicals. They are found in food that slow the absorption of free radicals, which are a byproduct of the oxygen that cells need to survive. These compounds are considered to promote the growth of healthy cells.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 at 4:56 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.