Do Antioxidants Help Prevent Disease and Improve Your Health?

With antioxidants becoming a word that a lot of folks are beginning to hear these days, we are all beginning to wonder exactly what antioxidants are as well as whether or not they can benefit our health.

Before you learn what antioxidants are, it will probably be helpful to find out what oxidants are. We will cover that further along, but a brief description of antioxidants are a group of natural nutrients including vitamins and minerals that some folks feel may aid in preventing heart disease, cancer, and even the normal effects of aging. Others say that not enough research and human study has been conducted to show that antioxidants play a role in providing healthful nutrition benefits.

You may be wondering, with all the seemingly conflicting information available, what you should believe. Do your own due diligence and research to learn the facts about what these nutrients can do for you.

Talk to twenty researchers and you are likely to get twenty differing opinions about the beneficial effects of antioxidants in your diet.The  American Cancer Society as well as the American Heart Association have conducted studies with conflicting results (you may want to visit their respective websites and read for yourself).

However, some researchers feel that foods containing high levels of antioxidants may afford  some protection and prevention against some chronic illnesses such as heart disease, some types of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, immune system disorders, and memory loss. Some of the nutrients in the spotlight  include vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene. Some other nutrients gaining attention as well are carotenoids, and selenium which is a mineral.

One published study conducted by researchers at the Arizona Cancer Center states "Epidemiological studies suggest that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables confers a lower risk of cancer. One idea is that the high antioxidants content of fruits and vegetables is protective, although definitive studies to prove this have not yet been conducted."  For more info on the Arizona Cancer Center

Some research seems to suggest that a diet containing lots of antioxidant rich vegetables and fruit seem to correlate with lower rates of heart disease, cancer, and cataracts and pointed to the need for further research in these areas. We mentioned the term oxidant a bit earlier. Even though oxygen is necessary for life as we know it to survive, oxygen's flip side can do harm to our cells.

The processes that our cells engage in to keep us alive also produce an oxygen molecule that is highly unstable and reactive. This molecule is a called a free radical. Free radicals can be destructive to our cells and result in a number of chronic diseases in addition to contributing to the aging process.

Free radicals or reactive oxygen species have been shown to have the ability to initiate oxidative damage to cells that begin a type of domino effect that can over time, end in chronic diseases such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, or cancer. In addition to the oxidation processes taking place inside our cells resulting in the production of these free radicals, we are also adversely affected by outside hazards such as cigarette smoke, alcohol, pollution,  x-rays, stress, and radiation. These external factors can also be responsible for the development of free radicals inside our body.

Free radicals are molecules containing either too many or too few electrons. Free radicals attempt to rectify this situation by stealing electrons from other molecules to satisfy this imbalance. This situation creates a chain reaction that results in the production of even more free radicals - in the millions every day and this can result in injury to our cells and their membranes and also to our genetic map - our DNA.

Antioxidants Provide a Defensive Mechanism That Protects Our Cells

Antioxidants can be found in the form of nutrients that we derive from our diets or enzymes that are manufactured by our cells. Antioxidants are thought to have the ability to counteract these unstable free radicals and are even thought to be able to repair some of the damage that the free radicals produce. Different antioxidants are thought to be responsible for different tasks in combatting these free radicals from deactivating to transforming free radicals into substance that are less toxic and damaging.

Some antioxidants interrupt the chemical steps that may trigger certain certain substances that cause cancer. Many researchers seem to feel that antioxidants in plentiful supply, through various protective roles, may aid your body's immune system in warding off cancer causing cellular damage.

It is thought by researchers that there may be thousands of types of antioxidants. Antioxidants include vitamin A, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and E as well as minerals such as zinc, selenium, lycopene, and beta carotene. then there are the less commonly known antioxidants such as catechins, polyphenols (as found in red wine for instance) and proanthocyanidins. The leading thought now is to include antioxidant rich foods in our diets. Most beneficial antioxidants can be found in foods such as vegetables and fruits.

Although lots of folks use vitamin supplements to attempt to provide themselves with optimal levels of antioxidants, research is still incomplete when it comes to the effectiveness of this method. The best way to provide yourself with cell protecting antioxidants is by cutting down on your consumption of animal products and to increase your consumption of fruits, green leafy vegetables, and vegetables of various colors such as red and yellow. It is suggested that you consume a wide variety in order to insure that you are getting a wide variety of different antioxidants. Remember that different antioxidants are responsible for different tasks.

Scientists and researchers are currently attempting to determine the mechanisms behind these antioxidants and just how they accomplish their tasks. Not yet having all the answers surrounding how antioxidants do what they do mitigate the effects of free radicals, what they do know is that they work. Research in this important area is ongoing as we attempt to determine what other roles these antioxidants play in keeping you healthy.

What you can do is to stop by your local produce market and load up on a variety of fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, grapefruit, peaches, cherries, berries, grapes, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, and broccoli for starters. Taking steps to increase your exercise and antioxidant consumption through your diet and perhaps some supplementation using dietary supplements, will put you on the road towards prevention, improved health and might even help to slow down the aging process.