Knowing The Importance Of An Antioxidant Diet For Healthy Bodies

By Bill Chant


A group of compounds referred to as antioxidants found in food are generating a lot of hype. They are capable of doing a lot, ranging from protecting the memory and fighting off diseases to acting as aging antidote. They form a natural way of fighting off potentially lethal molecules found in the human body, which come in forms of byproducts of chlorine, pesticides and plastics. The importance of an antioxidant diet is looked at below.

Antioxidants assist in fighting a normal chemical process known as oxidation that takes place every day in the body. It can be accelerated by stress, alcohol and cigarette smoking. In case a disruption in the natural process of oxidation occurs, molecules known as free radicals that are potentially damaging and highly unstable are created. The formation of such destructive little chemicals is triggered by oxygen, and is capable of causing damage to body cells if left uncontrolled.

Oxidative stress is likely to occur if free radicals production overwhelms the bodys protective defenses. This stress combined by cell damage caused by free radicals is likely to trigger the early stages of cancer and heart disease. Free radicals are also linked with development of diabetes, Alzheimers disease, cataracts, kidney disease as well as age related blindness.

The human body has its own defenses against such damage. It creates antioxidants for combating the free radicals as well as protecting the cells from being attacked by oxygen. They can safely interact with the radicals and halt the chain of damaging prior to the damage happening to the cells. These helpful molecules can be gained from the diet that a person consumes.

Certain vitamins like vitamin C and vitamin E as well as minerals such as selenium and manganese are antioxidants. Some plant compounds also act as antioxidants, such as carotene and lycopene. Many types of foods capable of being included in a diet are ideal sources of antioxidants. While selenium and manganese can be found in small amounts in meats and seafood, the main source of antioxidants is plant foods.

Antioxidant systems come in a wide variety. However, how they work within the human body as a team is something that scientists are yet to know. The bottom line is that one antioxidant cannot do the work of many others by itself.

The best way of getting a variety of antioxidants in a diet is by consuming foods that represent all the rainbow colors. Every color provides its own one of a kind antioxidant effects. Deep yellow, bright orange vegetables and fruits such as sweet potatoes, carrots and apricots provide one kind of antioxidants, while red foods such as tomatoes provider the other. Green vegetables like cabbage and broccoli together with purple or blue foods like eggplant and blueberries each contain antioxidants packages.

Reducing the risks associated with certain diseases is what comprises the importance of an antioxidant diet. To come up with such diets, one has to incorporate vegetables, fruits and whole grains in large amounts. Failure to do will result in a higher likelihood of getting heart disease or cancer, which can be prevented easily.




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