Antioxidants are some of the most important nutrients needed by your body to maintain good health. Oxidation is a natural process that nearly everything in world continuously goes through; iron rusts, fat turns rancid, exposed fruit turns brown, etc. Antioxidants are nutrients that neutralize free radicals – damaged cells that further the oxidative, degenerative process that comes with aging. Antioxidant supplements generally include vitamins A, C, and E, as well as the minerals copper, zinc, and selenium.
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Antioxidant Benefits:
*Neutralizes free radicals
*Slows the aging process
*Maintains healthy cells
*Supports overall wellbeing
Age-Related & Degenerative Disease
Antioxidants are often marketed as anti-aging supplements. Because they fight against free radicals, which are cells that encourage aging and degeneration, antioxidants are some of the best nutrients for the body that maintain youth inside and out. They can help fight against degenerative or age-related health problems like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration.
Age, Degeneration, & Antioxidants
When you’re young and healthy, your body produces most of the antioxidants you need. As you get on in your years, though, your body’s production of antioxidants slows, which leads to an imbalance between free radicals and the antioxidants that combat them. When this happens, significant health risks arise and the body eventually begins to deteriorate and degenerate. Along with the growing imbalance comes degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, a condition thought to be brought on by free radicals attacking proteins in cells, tissues, and the brain.
Fruits & Vegetables
The best sources of antioxidants are found in fruits and vegetables. The brighter fruits and vegetables contain more vitamins and minerals. Berries, such as blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, and blueberries, are excellent sources of antioxidants. Berries also contain high concentrations of flavonoids that help eliminate free radicals. Some of the free radicals that flavonoids help eliminate include peroxyl radicals, superoxide radicals, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radicals, and singlet oxygen.