The Benefits of Antioxidants

Free radicals are highly unstable molecules that are naturally formed inside our bodies by the process of oxidation. They are normal by products of everyday functions like digestion and physical activity. Free radicals also come from outside sources, such as smoking, environmental pollution, and synthetic chemicals that are added to our water and food.

Free radicals are created as by-products in our use of oxygen during metabolism such as the burning of food for energy. They are essentially oxidant molecules that are missing an electron and seek to restore themselves by targeting nearby cells in an attempt to recover this electron, potentially harming enzymes, DNA, proteins and cell membranes in the process.

Today, a great deal of experimental evidence supports the premise that length of life is determined by the crucial balance of antioxidants with free radicals in the body. Oxidation occurs when reactive oxygen particles form chain reactions which can cause cancer-like mutations and cell death.

Antioxidants have become synonymous with good health. They are a class of compounds thought to prevent certain types of chemical damage caused by an excess of free radicals, charged molecules that are generated by a variety of sources including pesticides, smoking and exhaust fumes. Destroying free radicals may help fight cancer, heart disease and stroke, researchers believe.

We are exposed to huge amounts of free radicals from pollution, and pesticides. Every time you breathe, you take in millions of free radical molecules created by cigarette smoke, radiation, and automobile emissions. Every time you eat, you consume free radicals in the form of pesticides and preservatives.

Health and nutrition experts have increasingly come to recognize the value of taking a synergistic blend of potent antioxidants, the cancer-fighting, health-promoting nutrients that help boost the immune system naturally. Free radicals do serve a purpose they are produced in your body in small numbers. Not all of them are dangerous in normal circumstances. They are produced by the immune system to destroy bacteria and viruses.

Antioxidants are essentially natural compounds that protect our bodies from free radical damage to our cells. This destructive process is called oxidation. Just like many metals oxidize and then rust, our own bodies tend to do the same over time. They also play a major part in activating enzymes, producing energy, and hormones. But if there is an excessive amount of them they can do more extensive damage.

Pollution, alcohol, drugs, radiation from television, computers and hand phones, chemicals, cigarette smoke and stress generate free radicals in our bodies. Unstable and highly reactive, these free radicals attack your cell membranes. They then stimulate biological reactions that have been connected to accelerated cellular aging. Free radicals are highly unstable molecules that are naturally formed inside our bodies by the process of oxidation. They are normal by products of everyday functions like digestion and physical activity.

The production of free radicals is a normal bodily process, and it is part of the process of breathing and living. Free radicals are normally neutralized by the body's natural defense system, rendering them harmless. However, anything that weakens the body's natural defenses weakens its ability to fight off these free radicals. Those weakening agents include environmental pollution, excess UV radiation and even excessive consumption of alcohol.

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