How do antioxidants protect our body?
In order to understand how antioxidants work, we must first look at what they are protecting us from, and that is Free Radicals.
Free Radicals are atoms or a group of atoms that have at least one unpaired electron, which in the body, usually tends to be an oxygen molecule, which has lost an electron and goes on a warpath in order to stabilize itself by stealing an electron from a healthy cell. Now, if you don’t understand that, it’s ok, all you need to know is that when this free radical goes on its warpath to stabilize itself, whatever cell it comes into contact first with to steal that missing electron, that’s what where the damage begins; if it comes in contact with a cell wall the cell degenerates, if it comes in contact with DNA, it then causes mutations that could lead to many different diseases and most of the time, cancer. Once this process starts where it shouldn’t it causes a massive path of destruction in your body until you can “antioxidize” it.
What causes Free Radicals?
Everything and anything, especially metabolic processes in the body such as breathing, turning food into energy, and other things like smoking, pollutions, stress both physical and mental, the sun, etc. so for the most part there really no way to prevent this, only ways to limit it.
How do Antioxidants work?
This is very simple, antioxidants provide free radicals with the missing electron so they do not have to steal electrons from other cells, thus stopping the destruction of healthy cells that could lead to early signs of aging, disease, reduced performance, decreased energy, and many more.
Are all Free Radicals bad?
No. Free Radicals do play a roll in our body that are vital to our survival such as being partially responsible for killing bacteria and beginning the inflammatory process that leads to repairing injuries to mention a few.
Why are Antioxidants so important?
It’s pretty easy to see that without a balance and too many free radicals in your body you may be in serious trouble and you wouldn’t even know it. In fact, there have been many studies that have linked free radicals as the major cause of over 80 degenerative diseases, which are ultimately liked to oxidative stress (free radical cell damage). In fact, these scientists and studies now believe that all disease are not individual occurrences, but the way your body has dealt with the oxidative stress from your genetics, lifestyle, and environment.
