Antioxidant Food Source

Talk of the health benefits of antioxidants is quite common today. They are said to play a role in warding off heart disease in preventing the slowing degeneration of the brain and eyes in slowing down or even reversing the aging process. You name it and it seems antioxidants always have the key.

What are Free Radicals?

The culprits are these highly unstable chemical substances called free radicals. The job of antioxidants is to neutralize these free radicals and keep them from causing destruction to the cells.

The production of free radicals is actually a normal part of life. They are a direct result of the process of oxidation. The moment we breathe our body is undergoing the oxidation process and releases free radicals into our cells. Usually the body’s natural defense systems neutralize free radicals that develop rendering them harmless.

However environmental assaults on the body such as UV-radiation pollutants and alcohol can overpower the body’s ability to neutralize free radicals. This allows them to cause damage to the structure and function of the body’s cells. Scientists point to accumulation of free radicals as the contributing factors that lead to aging and a host of other illnesses including cancer and heart disease.

Antioxidant Food Source – Your Body’s Source of Defense

Through consumption of antioxidant food source you can help your body provide for itself the tools necessary to neutralize harmful free radicals. It is estimated that there are more than 4000 compounds in antioxidant food sources that have the same function as antioxidants. The most studied antioxidant food sources are those that are rich in vitamins C and E beta-carotene and the mineral selenium.

When it comes to finding more antioxidant food sources many people turn to supplements. However the results of studies conducted on the benefits of antioxidant dietary supplements are ambiguous for the most part. Doctors still advise that you find your antioxidant food source from your diet.

The best place to find antioxidant food sources is the produce section the frozen fruit and vegetable section and the whole grains section of your supermarket. Why? Because most antioxidant food sources are fruits and vegetables. Vitamin C for instance are most commonly found in such antioxidant food sources as citrus fruits grapes broccoli peppers raw cabbage potatoes strawberries and green leafy vegetables. Vitamin E on the other hand can be found antioxidant food sources such as wheat germ nuts seeds whole grains green leafy vegetables vegetable oil and fish-liver oil.