What is an antioxidant? An antioxidant is a compound that helps to fight free radicals in the body. Free radicals can be very harmful to your body if it is extremely elevated. Some of the chronic health diseases it is linked to is heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.
What is an antioxidant? iStock-photo credit: ileezhun
The important thing about antioxidants is you can obtain this from fruits, vegetables, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, etc. The immune cell in your body utilizes free radical to fight off infections. When your body experiences oxidative stress is when free radicals outnumber the number of antioxidants in the body.
When it comes to oxidative stress it is important to minimize this in the body. Prolonged oxidative stress can negatively affect your DNA and potentially lead to death. When you experience damage to the DNA it can accelerate aging.
When you see someone who looks older than their age part of the reason they’ve incorporated a high amount of unhealthy lifestyle habits for an extended period. Such as smoking, excessive drinking, no exercise, horrible diet, etc. These are factors that can damage your DNA and accelerate the aging process in your body.
If you incorporate unhealthy lifestyle factors this can increase a heightened number of free radicals in the body. Some of those lifestyle and environment factors are the following:
• Smoking
• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Air pollution
• Excessive exercise
• High blood sugar levels
• High amount of air pollution
• High Exposure to radiation
What most people don’t know is some studies have revealed that coffee is considered a reliable source of antioxidant and so is green tea and chocolate.
Some of the dietary vitamins you can add that can help with increasing antioxidants in your body is Vitamin C, Vitamin E and flavonoids.
Eating antioxidant whole rich foods is a better approach than relying on antioxidant supplements. Whole foods that provide a high antioxidant effect will always be better than taking dietary supplements. Eating fruits and vegetables is where you will always get the highest antioxidant effect to help fight off free radicals in the body.
The Bottom Line an antioxidant is a compound that helps to fight free radicals in the body. And you can obtain a high number of this from eating fruits and vegetables.
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References
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