In the recent years, there has been so much hullabaloo about antioxidants and
. In its simplest sense, free radicals are the villains which wreak havoc on one’s health and well-being while antioxidants are the heroes that can come to the rescue. That may be a layman’s way of putting it. Getting into the details of free radicals and antioxidants would entail one to delve deeper into atomic theory, but that would rather be unnecessary as knowing the fundamentals may be enough to instigate awareness and to take measures as needed. For starters, one should well know about the basics of free radicals.
What exactly are they and why do they cause damage? Primarily, free radicals are natural by products of the body’s cell metabolism. These molecules are formed when the body burns oxygen. However, free radicals have unpaired electrons and as they go about wandering in the body they cause cellular damage while they steal other molecules’ electrons thereby disrupting their structure. It is then that these harmful molecules, owing to the cellular damage they instigate, contribute to the development of health problems related to aging as well as cancers. Other than aging and various cancers,
cause a host of other health conditions, too.
Some of them are autoimmune diseases, coronary heart disease and arthritis. Other than those distressing conditions, the damage they inflict can lead to the development of cataracts, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. One may not find this at all surprising as every cell in the body is attacked by approximately 10,000 free radicals a day. Essential to taking measures for preventing an excessive production of free radicals is knowing what causes them: smoking, pollution, exercise, sunlight and a diet high in fats and sugar. Other than that, one can also counteract the cellular damage they cause through antioxidants. How do antioxidants go about with this job? When an antioxidant meets with a free radical in the body, free molecules from the antioxidant will bond with the free radical's unpaired electrons.
This will then nullify the harmful molecules. It is then that the free radicals become unable to do damage or that the damage they have done will be reversed. Good sources of antioxidants are fruits and vegetables- the foundations for good health and warding off free radicals. The same can be said with organic tea and coffee, and by these, it means organic – not heavily sprayed with pesticides. Renowned for being potent antioxidants are also vitamins A and E, so taking them in supplement form can be an effective measure against free radicals. And dark chocolate. One can now have an excuse to eat them- they fight free radicals as they are a rich source of antioxidants.
Yellow and orange fruits and vegetables are abundant with beta-carotene and beta-carotene is an effective antioxidant. The same goes for selenium which can be obtained from Brazil nuts. So it’s basically antioxidants versus
, and now that one is aware, they can make means to promote one and destroy the other.
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