What Are Antioxidants

If you have ever wondered or asked, what are antioxidants you may want to think of them as the John Wayne of Nutrition.

Advertisements bombard us with the promised wonders of antioxidants. We can find them in drinks, in foods, and in skin cream.

Green tea products are overflowing with them and makeup and beauty products just aren’t worth a second glance without them.

So What Are Antioxidants?

How can they help you, and what exactly will they really do for you?

Antioxidants fight the effects of oxidation. To understand that, you have to think of what happens when oxygen combines with iron: The result is rust.

To understand how this effects your living tissues think of a raw potato cut into slices. If you let it sit in the air, it begins to turn brown; like rusting, it's a form of oxidation.

But if you coat the potato slices with oil in order to fry them, or if you cook the potato and mix it with milk and butter, then you have protected it from the open air and stopped the process of oxidation.

Your body doesn’t develop any of that nasty orange powder known as rust, but you do suffer different effects.

Your cells are constantly sharing oxygen atoms in a process known as redox, a shortened word meaning reduction-oxidation.

This complicated chemical reaction alters the acidity level of a cell. Its charge might switch from negative to positive.

The real harm is done when some cells are left with unpaired electrons, which results in destabilized, feeble cells.

Look at it this way: Your body starts out as a healthy place, with all your cells working together synergistically for the good of all. But then some of the cells are corrupted by things like emotional and physical stress cigarette smoking, alcohol, poor nutrition and pollution.

That’s where the free radicals come in, and they take a lot of the good cells downhill with them.

Disease always becomes evident as an abnormality of individual cells, or in a lack of functioning of individual cells. Their energetic properties and qualities differ from healthy cells.

To express it very simply a healthy cell can be compared with a fully charged battery, providing the energy required for the cell to live and work.

A sick or fatigued cell on the other hand has insufficient energy to maintain a healthy metabolism. It has lost its life-supporting battery with its vitalizing effects.

What Are Antioxidants - Heroes of our Time

When you consume foods with antioxidants, it’s like an infusion of strength into your body. They join together with the unpaired electrons.

Think of the antioxidants as a group of watchful, healthy people who are determined to get your body back in order.

They’re the heroes that pair up with the free radicals so that no more harm is done. If this story were a John Wayne movie, we could call it The Sons of Katie Elderberry.

The story above is a little bit different from a John Wayne film, but elderberries and other foods are certainly the heroic consumables that you need to help you improve your body.

But there are many other foods chock full of them, including chocolate.

What Are Antioxidants - The Practical Information

You’ll find that any food rich in vitamins C and E will be loaded with antioxidants.

Citrus fruits, strawberries, peppers—whether sweet or hot—grapes, and tomatoes all contain high amounts of vitamin C.

Leafy green vegetables, the darker the better, supply lots of antioxidant benefits.

Vegetable oils, including the nuts that produce those oils, are swimming with vitamin E and antioxidants.

What Are Antioxidants - The Clear Winners

Many people recognize beta-carotene as an important nutrient common to carrots. It’s contained within a powerful antioxidant compound that’s also common to mango, cantaloupe, squash, spinach, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and kale.

Polyphenols represent a classification of nonessential nutrients, which means they are not vital to life function. But they do provide many other benefits, and they’re subdivided into categories with funny names such as resveratrol and flavonoids.

They are plentiful in plants or herbs such as the popular green tea varieties, rosemary, parsley, or grains.

Melatonin is a hormone manufactured by the body that has antioxidant effects. It effects the sleep-wake cycle and declines with age.

What Are Antioxidants - The Scientific Evidence

What are some of the benefits of antioxidants?

Many researchers believe that antioxidants can dilate blood vessels, combat hypertension, delay the process of aging, and slow tumor growth.

There is evidence that they increase neurological function by slowing down the progression of Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers.

They slow down the aging process in cells, including skin cells. Some studies have shown that alpha brain waves slow down, which promotes healthful sleeping and calmness.

Don’t be fooled that antioxidants are a new discovery. Experiments exploring their benefits began over fifty years ago!

But scientists are still collecting their evidence to prove to the US Food and Drug Administration beyond a reasonable doubt that antioxidants can boost our cells, strengthen them, or improve their life spans.

Meanwhile, it’s wise to choose antioxidant rich foods and products, preferably certified organic to help your body in achieving and maintaining vibrant health.

Here is a list of antioxidants you may find helpful.

There are also supplements that boast antioxidant benefits but make sure you know what to look for so you know you're choosing the best antioxidant supplement.

Because everyone knows it’s smart to keep heroes like John Wayne on your side, right?

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