Vitamin Information Guide and Discount Coupons
Antioxidant Information
1. What is Antioxidant ?
Antioxidants come in two forms. They can either be vitamins or minerals. They help prevent oxygen from reacting with other chemicals in cells. Such reactions – called oxidation – could lead to cell damage which may result in heart disease and cancer.
Antioxidants can be found in a variety of foods, but they are far more common in fresh fruits and vegetables. A health diet of fresh produce could lead to high levels of antioxidants in your body, which could only mean one thing – less free radicals (those harmful molecules that cause cell damage) and a healthier you.
Antioxidants are commonplace in nature. In fact, antioxidants are abundant in more common vitamins such as retinol or Vitamin A, ascorbic acid or Vitamin C, tocopherol or Vitamin E, and selenium. They can be nutrients (vitamins and minerals) as well as enzymes (proteins in your body that assist in chemical reactions). Antioxidants are believed to play an important role in preventing the development of such chronic illnesses as heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, and cataracts.
Although antioxidants cannot completely rid our bodies of free radicals, they can however work to retard or minimize the damage caused. Antioxidants block the process of oxidation by neutralizing free radicals. By neutralizing, they themselves become oxidized. For this reason, our bodies are always in need of a constant source of antioxidants.
How antioxidants work is a two-way process. First is the chain-breaking. This is where the antioxidant comes in to break the chain reaction of free radicals turning other molecules into free radicals like them. Chain-breaking is also called Stabilization.
The other aspect is more on the preventive side. Antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase prevent oxidation by reducing the rate of chain initiation. This time, instead of waiting for the free radicals to make a long chain of free radicals, antioxidants scavenge initiating radicals and destroy them before oxidation is set in motion.
Thus, aging is delayed and not only that, diseases and other illnesses caused by harmful free radicals are avoided.
2. Benefits of Antioxidant Vitamins
The benefits of antioxidant vitamins are very difficult to prove and to date there is no hard evidence that exists. Most studies on the benefits of antioxidant vitamins rely on people self-reporting their own dietary habits. This makes such surveys not that reliable and what’s more, reflects only short-term eating habits. Other studies on the benefits of antioxidant vitamins are done in laboratories on animals or blood samples. Thus, the results of these studies may not necessarily reflect the true effects of antioxidant vitamins on humans.
Still, no matter how flimsy the evidence may seem as to the benefits of antioxidant vitamins, there is nothing wrong with continuing to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. And besides, various studies have shown that where the benefits of antioxidant vitamins aren’t manifest in supplements, they surely are when it comes to a natural diet of fresh produce.
The benefits of antioxidant vitamins include neutralizing free radicals. These free radicals are responsible for many degenerative diseases and disorders, not least of which is various types of cancer. The neutralizing effect and benefits of antioxidant vitamins also help boost the body’s immune system, thereby reducing the likelihood of developing cancer.
Deficiencies in the benefits of antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamins A, C, E, and beta-carotene have been linked to heart disease. All of these nutrients exhibit the benefits of antioxidant vitamins and other such properties that have positive effects on the heart.
Another group of vitamins that contribute to the benefits of antioxidant vitamins are folate and B12 vitamins. Various studies show that deficiencies in the B vitamins folate or folic acid and B12 have been associated with elevated blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid. The same studies showed that there are lower failure rates after heart surgery in patients who took folic acid and vitamins B12 and B6.
The benefits of antioxidant vitamins are certainly not inclusive only with cancer prevention. The benefits of antioxidant vitamins also include heart protection, especially with natural antioxidants such as flavonoids, organosulfurs, isoflavones, and sterols. Certain flavonoids, found in both black and green tea, dark chocolate, onions, red wine or red grape juice, and apples, appear to have the strong heart protective benefits of antioxidant vitamins. In a 2003 study, people who consumed the most flavonoids in foods had a 20% lower risk for heart disease than those with low consumption. Flavonoids may also protect against the damage done by cholesterol and help prevent blood clots.
