What Are Antioxidants? And Do I Really Want Them?

Posted by: Velma B. Martin on September 12, 2010 at 12:30PM
	Tweet

What Are Antioxidants?

Antioxidants is a word that we have been hearing a lot in our media. It certainly sounds promising to our health. But, why should you and I go out of our way to get something that we have never heard before now? In fact, what are antioxidants?

Antioxidants prevent cellular oxidation, which is a condition where the oxygen electrons have moved freely and created free radicals. These free radicals cause shifts and movements of loose electrons and then accumulation of material in the cells cause cell decay. So basically the reason antioxidants are good for you is because it prevents cell decay.

So that isn't something I want happening to my cells, how can I get more antioxidants introduced to my diet? Well, the easiest, although perhaps not cheapest, way would be to take a supplement that is specifically geared to boost the users level of antioxidants. Such supplements would be DMG, Miracle Reds, AntiOx, NanoHydrate, Spirulina Digest & Flora, etc.

Organic Antioxidants

For those of us who like to enhance our diet in a more natural way, well, there are lots of known foods that have good levels of antioxidants. Foods high in Vitamin C, E, A, beta-carotene, lycopene are all good foods to look for. Two fruits that scientists have promoted with having high levels of antioxidants are blueberries and blackberries. But even these can be costly if you want to eat them regularly. The newest finding for a cheap source of antioxidants is black rice. Associate professor and co-author, Zhimin Xu says that a spoonful of black rice bran has more anthocyanin antioxidants with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants than a spoonful of blueberries. For people who eat brown rice and brown rice bran, which is very favorable in breakfast cereals, all it could take is to substitute the brown rice for the black rice and black rice bran. This is the newest, thrift substitution that can help you have a high intake of antioxidants.

Remember that it is important to have a well rounded diet. No specific food item is the singular promoter of good health. This is why we have so many foods available to us for consumption. Also, it is always suggested that weight-loss and appropriate weight-maintaining is through a combination of diet and exercise.


http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/antioxidantsprevention
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_102639.html