Supplements containing antioxidants give the promises to the consumers to slow aging is undeniably irresistible. We can only conclude that the desire to avoid the effects of aging is a universal desire.
What are antioxidants? And how does this free-radical sponge really work? As we believe that antioxidants can help us look younger, live longer, and be at our optimum health.
Free radicals are produced naturally in your body and are perfectly safe if they stay below a certain level. They are known as “reactive oxygen species”, or ROS and first identified by Moses Gomberg in 1900. Free radical creation is part of living and as the cells produce energy (for function and survival), the also create oxygen molecules that are unstable because its electrons are unpaired.
Free radicals are produced naturally by many cellular processes, but more importantly, their output can be greatly increased by exposure to environmental factors such as pollution, tobacco smoke and radiation. They may cause cell damage which may lead to a breakdown in your cells ability to function properly.
The best recipe for stopping the formation of free radicals and reducing the production of more of them is to have enough sleep(at least seven hours a day) and stay active, exercise and live right.
A lot of changes in our body are as a result of the activities of the free radicals. They damage the DNA and impair other vital functions of cells, causing premature death to these cells. Over time, all these damages would mount up and cause our body to accelerate aging.
Upon breathing, oxygen induces a process called oxidation. And it is in here where free radicals form. This process is likened to the oxidation of metals. Once oxidized, aluminum turns to be white, iron becomes rusty, and copper transforms into green. In the same logic that oxidation damages metals; free radicals are also detrimental to our body.
Antioxidants are molecules that have the capability of preventing oxidation of other molecules (by the name itself: antioxidant). In the light of anti-aging, antioxidants prevent the formation of free radicals.
Antioxidants were named by 15% of participants as “potentially reducing the risk of specific diseases or health concerns. It helps preventing oxidation, may increase immune responses, and possibly decrease risk of infection and cancer.
Antioxidants are the knights in shining armour that subjugate the attack of free radicals in the body, the hazardous molecules that damage cells and procure aging and disease. They prevent glaucoma and the age-related degeneration of our macula, and fight the effects of free radical damage by boosting the skins natural protection.
Supplements like Vitamin A, E, C and selenium, are known to be powerful antioxidants. Glutathione is said to be the most powerful among all forms of antioxidants. They are naturally present in our body since we were young but depletes as we get older.
If antioxidant supplements are not your type, you may take some delectable bite of the super fruits such as blueberry and raspberry which are said to contain the most number of antioxidants.
As you have the current understanding of antioxidants as reducing agents that break oxidative chain reactions, often by scavenging reactive oxygen species before they can cause damage to the cells, no wonder those magic tablets in such high demanding.